It is never about your short game...and always about your long game thought Captain Kerouac as he continued to monitor his screen. A few hours had passed since he received the unfortunate news that the Federation had surrendered more or less, they gave up Hamelin as member world of the Federation. It was something that had left Kris with an unsettling feeling. He had carried out his orders to the very last letter. He had informed the away team of the situation and the message was delivered to the Governess that Hamelin was no longer considered a Federation member world. She was as expected disappointed in the Federation.

Captain Kerouac was too. However, he had no plans on leaving the Guidon for the Kzinti to easily pick off. “I assure you Governor Misha, that your world will be protected if you agree to these terms and conditions. It may not be the Federation, but at least your people will be left to grow old and live in peace without living in fear of the Kzinti. You have my word, Governor that no harm will come the people of Hamelin” finished Kris as he watched the little mousy woman sit at her desk and initial the treaty he had spent the past few hours drawing up and working his ass off to call in some favors.

“It is signed, Captain. How will we know that it is accepted?” she asked as she too looked at a screen that showed her what was now seven Kzinti battle cruisers near her planet.

Kris wore a smirk on his face. “My friends will keep you safe, Governor and they are here. Rest assured...they are here” added the Captain before he ended the transmission. He opened a comm link to the away team “Commander Brooks, I am sorry that things did not go as we had hoped down there, but you and your team did a fine job. The people of Hamelin will remember your kindness in this dark time” said Kris. “Stand by for transport” added Kerouac.

The Kzinti were growing impatient and their ships had increased from five to seven with more expected to arrive within the hour. They were getting more brazen and aggressive, cutting across the Camelot's bow and stern. Coming close their port side with a closeness that was enough to make even the bravest Engineer sick to their stomach.

He knew it was inevitable. The Kzinti would open fire soon, and Camelot would take a beating if it sat in orbit of Hamelin too long with their shields down. Captain Kerouac gave the order. “Transporter Room...beam back the away team now” he commanded as he left his Ready Room and returned the Bridge. A shift change had been made while he was in his Ready Room, and more seasoned officers were on the Bridge. “Impeccable timing” he said aloud as he looked at his officers.

Commander Jennifer Matthews, Chief Engineer and Second Officer of the USS Camelot had been in command of the Bridge while Kris was locked away in his Ready Room dealing with the bureaucratic bullshit of the day. “Computer, transfer Engineering controls to the Bridge” said Kris as he instructed the computer which responded flawlessly. “Ms. Matthews, please take your Bridge station. I'll need you to monitor things from up here. Please be ready to give us all the extra power we got to our engines” commanded the Captain.

Jenni, for the last few minutes, had been standing not far behind the helm. It wasn't that she found the Captain's chair uncomfortable, but rather the situation itself. With the number of Kzinti ships surrounding them like sharks circling their prey in the water, Jenni wanted to do only one thing: stand her ground. She'd been bullied and outgunned by the Breen once before, and she was fortunate to walk away from it.

When the Captain stepped onto the bridge, Jenni immediately found herself heaving a sigh of relief. She knew Kris well enough that he wouldn't back down, and at the order regarding the engines, she also knew to expect the unexpected. "Of course, sir," she replied with a nod before crossing the bridge to the Engineering station. A quick survey of the readouts told her everything was in order.

Looking up at the tactical station, one docile ensign had been replaced by another. Respectfully, Kris made a quick call. He motioned to the ensign, relieving him from his station. “Commander t'Dharvanek, you are needed at the tactical station” ordered the Captain swiftly.

I hate you, Jhu groused to herself, transferring her usual setup over to tactical in order to cover both jobs before getting up from her seat in the rear of the bridge and taking over the now empty tactical position. With it being a standing station, she had to work around her unborn daughter, which made setting the panel up a little more difficult and took more time than she might have liked.

It was a very overcast day on Hamelin, the sun had not shown even once, and the mist in the air could be felt. It would soon begin a very light shower, but being wet was not a bother today for Governor Misha. Her work was far more important than concerns about her fur getting wet and looking like a mess. Being the leader of planet or being a damp rat were one in the same on days like this.

She had left warmth and security of here underground burrow, the comfort of her office and proceeded outward to bare the elements and to meet with the crew sent down to Hamelin from the USS Camelot. She was disappointed that she would not be dealing with Captain Kerouac directly, but she could respect the man's decision and procedures by sending his First Officer.

She, however, would be handling these matters herself personally. The Governor did agree to having two armed security escorts with her. Hamelin used to be such a safe place with little to no need for such security measures, but after a few Kzinti had been discovered on the planet, precautions were the necessary evil.

Word had been received that the Camelot crew had arrived, and Misha was on her way. After a few minutes of walking, she arrived at their beam down point and approached slowly. Her guardsmen were at her side and squeaked alarmingly at the sight of Ensign R'Attom M'aara. The Governor quickly silenced her guards and ordered them to not dare raise their weapons.

Hamelin as a Federation member world were aware enough of Starfleet to know to distinguish between department colors and rank. She found herself scanning the bunch, though her sight was not the best. Misha saw the man she was looking for. "You must be Commander Brooks" she said in a very low squeak. "Excuse my guardsmen's actions, but what is THAT doing here?" she said gesturing towards the Ensign.

Stace nodded, and forced a neutral expression onto his face. No need to smile and bare eye teeth that would no doubt be threatening. "Governor Misha. It's very nice to meet you. I'm sorry it's not under better circumstances. This is Ensign M'aara. He is Caitian. They are a very peaceful race, I assure you." He then motioned to each member of the Away Team in turn.

"Doctor Rajol."

"Marine Captain Jake."

"Doctor Nichols."

"Counselor Quinzel."

Atom raised one furry paw in way of a friendly wave and smiled a little, careful not to show any of his teeth in his smile. He had had an inkling that their first meeting might go like this. "Ensign M'aara, ma'am."

At the mention of his name, Gideon gave a slight nod of greeting to the elder governor.

Doctor Rajol offered a warm, gentle smile to the elder stateswoman. He knew how this probably looked, a bunch of uniformed officers at your front door - though expected - would seem rather daunting. He wanted to be sure that Governor Misha felt like she could trust those who stood before her.

Misha let out a small squeak and gave a polite bow in the young man's direction. "Excuse my rudeness, Ensign," she said in a very soft tone.

"We still rarely get Federation visitors and Starfleet has only formally set foot on this planet a few times," she added shaking her head. "I've heard and read about Caitians, but the Ensign here is the first I've ever seen. I'll be sure my people are quickly made aware that he is a friend, not like those creatures attacking us," the Governess added.

The frail elder and stateswoman began to lead the Away Team towards the directions she came. "Come, it is far too wet outside. We will discuss matters further in my office. Have you had any contact with the Kzinti creatures?" she asked curiously.

"Thank you." Stace replied as they followed the governor inside. "Not yet. We wanted to offer what assistance we can and get a full understanding of what's been happening first."

Misha wrinkled her nose and let out several squeaks. The Universal Translator could not decipher what she had said, but her tone was filled with annoyance. "I appreciate your assistance, Commander, but the situation here is getting worse with each passing day. We are an isolated planet, and the Kzinti blockades have cut us off from crucial supplies needed to keep a sustainable life here."

Stace nodded his understanding. "We'll be meeting with the Kzinti as soon as possible to try and rectify the situation diplomatically. I'm sure our Science and Medical teams can provide a few critical supplies, just provide us with a list." He looked to Rajol and Nichols to make sure they were ready to get such information from the Guidon.

Gideon's gaze met Stace's, and he nodded at the executive officer. A quick glance to Doctor Rajol was also the confirmation he needed.

Rajol and Nichols shared a glance, there was an unspoken confirmation between them. He turned his attention back to the XO and the Governor. "Certainly, we are ready for the lists." Which, he certainly was. Even before he left, he had started to put together basic supplies that he knew would be essential.

"Your medicines will be helpful and your healers are most graciously welcomed. However, medicine alone will not solve my peoples' needs" she said swiftly as they approached the entrance to the underground burrow. She opened a hatch on the ground that lead downward with a stairwell. "The majority of our food is imported, we barter with nearby trading species and merchants. However, the Kzinti have cut off most of these routes, preventing us from receiving our shipments."

Stace understood that the blockade was the most urgent issue. "Freeing up your supply lines will be our first priority."

She then looked at the sturdy marine. "He is a soldier," she said with a flick of her tail. "We are a peaceful people with no previous need for soldiers, but now? Now, we need protection from the Kzinti. Will Starfleet provide this?"

"Yes," Jake replied. "I assure you that Hamelin will be well protected. I and my colleagues will work to make sure of it." He made a curt nod toward the governor.

The Governor was pleased with this, though she looked at the Commander for his reassurance. "Is this true, Commander?"

Stace hoped that was true, but felt the need to give the Governor the worst case scenario. "We will do our best, but if the Kintzi will not negotiate, an evacuation, hopefully a temporary one may be necessary."

Atom followed along quietly, trying his hardest to keep his long tail in check. It was funny to him that they had seemingly come to a planet full of overlarge rodents and he was a cat, or at least cat-like. Although, he was starting to get a little suspicious that the Kzinti might be after more then just supplies from these people. He, himself, had never been particularity fond of rodents as a food source, although his mother had insisted, when he and his siblings were cubs, that they eat a rather heavy rodent stew on a regular basis. Of course, he wasn't about to share that information with their hosts, but he did find it rather amusing.

With a kind gesture, the Governor lead the Away Team into her office where one of her top advisers was waiting with a worrisome look upon her face. The younger woman stood nervously shaking.

The Governor looked at the away team. "Please, sit," she said as the younger woman scurried up to her and whispered in the Governor's ear. Frantic squeaks could be heard as the hair on the Governor's neck stood up.

Atom took a chair that was further back from the desk just to maintain the Governor's comfort with him. He watched the goings on intently, his long tail flicking back and forth with interest. He felt like this was definitely going to be an interesting away mission. He kept his mouth shut, even though he had a million questions, and instead looked to his team heads to do the talking.

"I apologize for the interruption," said the Governor apologizing. "I was just informed that there was an incident... Kzinti were spotted near by. There has been a cave in at one of our mining locations," she said on the verge of anger.

At the information, Doctor Rajol shifted in his seat. He had a plethora of questions: How many miners? Any word on casualties? What type of medical personnel were there? Were there any on the scene already? Though, before he could say anything, the combadges of the away team came to life.

The USS Camelot had been monitoring things from above. Some time had passed since the Away Team had touched down on the planet's surface. The Captain had been made aware of the situation below and decided it was best to contact the away team after his most recent discussion with the Federation's Secretary of Defense.

"Camelot to Away Team," came Kris' voice over the away team's communications channel. "I've been informed of the cave in situation down there at the nearby mining facility. Send Doctor Rajol, Lieutenant Nichols, and Captain Jake to assist. I'm sending down a medical team from Camelot to the coordinates of the mining facility," added Kerouac.

Rajol looked to Marine Captain Jake, and gave a firm nod. He was practically out of his seat, but knew to wait since something in his gut told him there was more.

With a deep unsettling breath, the Captain continued. "I hate the bearer of bad news, number one, but I've just spoken with the Secretary of Defense. The Federation Council and Starfleet Command are in agreement. They are forcefully withdrawing Hamelin from the Federation. We have several Kzinti battle cruisers up here circling us as we speak. As soon as those miners are safe, I am beaming the Away Team back," stated Kris.

"Understood sir." Stace rubbed a hand over his face. This was not how he wanted this mission to go. They would be mopping up rather than stopping the spill. Hopefully the Guidon could be kept safe.

"Counselor Quinzel, I need to speak to you in private. Do you have a moment?" Kris asked of his ship's Counselor. She was the starship's most experienced Diplomatic Officer as well. Kris knew that his devious plans to save the Guidon people and their planet, Hamelin from the Kzinti would rely heavily on the powerful words of his Counselor. Without her, his plans would go down the drain like a flushed rat.

Quinzel had remained suspiciously quiet thus far, having remembered far too much about both races during her days as a full Q. Moving off to the side with Kris, she nodded and pretended nothing was wrong. A skill that normally came easy to a Q but that she had struggled with since becoming human... "Yes Captain? What is it?"

"I know that having you down there was supposed to help strengthen the Guidon's relations with the Federation. As you know, political strings were pulled and someone decided it was best to cut our Guidon friends loose" stated Kris with a sigh.

His voice became more focused though. "How's your Klingon?" he asked nervously. "I'm transmitting a Klingon document to your tricorder as we speak. It's a declaration of membership into the Klingon Empire. I need you to do your damn best and use that Q charm of yours...get Governess Misha to sign it. It will grant Hamelin the status of a Klingon protected world" explained Kris.

Quintina looked down at her PaDD which was linked to her tricorder, not surprised in the least by this latest outcome. Yep, that was Klingon. And yeah, it was a pretty crappy yet standard diplomatic agreement for them. "I'm betting this is a slight side effect of a trifle I had with them some years back. While I was still a full Q, mind you. As for getting the Governess to sign it, it might end up getting me beheaded, but I have an interesting idea of how to get her to sign it. I'll just tell her that I'm the trickster god that tortured her people a few hundred cycles ago and tell her that I'd love it if she didn't sign it. If she's up on her history, she's probably recognized my face already."

Kris had not known this powerless excommunicated Q very long, but she had yet to fail him utterly baffled and quite speechless. "Uh..yeah. Right" he said at a loss for words. "We have several Kzinti battle cruisers circling us and the planet right now, Counselor. Things are looking bad...but if you can get her to sign her world over to the Empire, I took the liberty of calling in some favors. There's a dozen Klingon cruisers here as well, cloaked and ready to defend Camelot and Hamelin as soon as I can assure them, Hamelin is part of the Empire."

"Makes sense to me. The Klingon weapons can tear through anything that the Kzinti are supposed to be able to develop on their own so it should be a good plan. I'll do it the less fun way to simplify things for you though. Give me five minutes and it'll be signed. Without duress." Quintina saw the need for expediency and though she knew the Klingons would immediately demand to build a small outpost here, it was far better than relying on the peaceful words of the Federation, whom was currently orbiting the planet with no more than one tiny ship.

Oh praise the Q thought Kris aboard the USS Camelot as he just about threw his hands up in the air for celebration. "I owe you big time for this" he said to her. "Without duress, please" he added with a smirk on his face. "Camelot, out."

"Oooh a Caitian..." Quintina mumbled as she punched up the records of the latest transfer. Getting all these new people to meet was strangely exciting and this one seemed somewhat run of the mill, but who knows? People had a way of surprising her.

He wasn't overdue or anything, but she was now his health care provider... She would be lax if she didn't at least introduce herself or something.

Tapping out an appointment request, Quintina sent a message for this new Caitian to come visit her at his earliest convenience. She wasn't too good at informal invitations, so it might have seemed a bit forced, but she did her best.

Atom heard a faint beep from his PADD early in the day, but was not able to actually look at it until it was nearly lunchtime. He was actually glad to see the counselor's request. At the end of his shift he made a beeline for her office. He'd always enjoyed counselors. He stopped in front of her office door, his tail flicking behind him wildly and tapped the buzzer to announce himself.

"Come in," Quintina called, rousing herself from an afternoon relaxation session involving vegetables on her face. Seeing that it was the Caitian she sent a message to this morning, she stood and offered a hug. "Please, make yourself at home. And how exactly do you pronounce your name?"

Atom didn't mind the hug, his own people were huggy, and returned it earnestly. He sort of chuckled-purred softly at her question. "Atom is fine. It's a lot easier anyway." His tail flicked back and forth as he looked around the room curiously. "So is this an introduction session or am I in trouble?" He looked at her again, briefly with a gaze that suggested he hoped that the latter wasn't the case.

"Just an introduction. Do you want to be in trouble? I'm sure I could stir some up if you like." Quintina offered motioning for Atom to sit down with her.

Atom chuckled again. "Me being in trouble usually means that something blew up." He selected a seat and flopped down in it, grinning. "Although I'm sure I could come up with something less destructive to be in trouble for. He pulled his long tail mostly into his lap and combed his claws through the dark tuft on the end. It seemed this ship was full of pretty people. The counselor had beautiful red hair and upon noticing it he was having a hard time looking at anything else.

Quintina didn't really notice, though she did know enough about Caitians to realize his interest in her. Siting down on the couch next to him, she smiled brightly. "I'm Quintina Q Quinzel. How are you settling in so far?"

His ears perked forward. "I'm settling. It's a rather different setting then what I'm used to, but I get to fly one of the fastest ships." He grinned toothily and purred, his eyes narrowing in pleasure at the thought. The USS Camelot was an amazingly agile ship. "I'm very pleased to be here." He leaned forward a little, clutching the tip of his tail in his paws. "I mean 9.99 and slipstream? I haven't really had a chance to see it for myself, but I hear there's a Dynamic Tactical System in this baby."

"Yeah the hull is supposed to unfold or something." Quintina smiled at his enthusiasm, enjoying it. "They estimate that this ship is a match for most Borg ships, if that means anything anymore."

Atom nodded enthusiastically. "And Slipstream... I mean it's pretty much untested. It's successful use could possibly be the next stage of space travel and the ability to be both a science vessel as well as a heavy cruiser is rather impressive. Switching between the Regenerative and Tactical on a whim is really amazing. I mean I have heard that when it's pushed it has a tendency to overheat... but I'd really like the opportunity to test that theory." He was slowly twisting his tail between his palms. It was having the same effect on his tail as the identical type of motion would have on a Norfin Troll doll.

Quintina nodded knowingly. "I've looked over the schematics for the slipstream drive. It's crude but should work adequately. As for the rest, it's fascinating."

"I wonder if it's a problem with using the larger cup-links. I've always been of the opinion that the smaller ones took speed and pressure better, but of course it's all a matter of what you like." He shrugged and leaned back again. "I mean using the larger cup-links, the AA 265 models anyway, might allow for more play in the connections between the coils and the reactor core... but that little bit of extra wiggle room can create some really weird energies that might be causing the overheating problem. Of course we're just talking about 1/13th of an inch, but it's amazing the difference a tiny bit of space can make, or in this case, lack there of. Of course they might have used expanders too... I don't really know. I'm just speculating."

Quintina wasn't entirely sure what he was specifically referring to, but she understood enough. "I'm for whichever one is closer to the resonant wave sync of the warp coil fields." This was something the Federation had barely even begun to delve into, but it still seemed obvious to her, given her origins. "You seem very excited about this. Have you logged any simulator time piloting the ship in extreme situations yet? I know it's not the same, but you can at least know generally what to expect of her."

"Days," he said simply with a grin. "When I heard that I was going to be on this ship specifically I spent all of my free time in a simulator, as well as memorizing most of the components required to build one. I've always liked to know the all the parts and pieces that make up any vessel that I'm going to be responsible for flying." He let the tip of his tail go and it settled next to him to twitch. "It's grrreat to be on a ship that is so experimental..." He was purring again. "And very exciting. Honestly, I can't wait to have time to speak to the engineers." He rubbed his paws together and then linked and unlinked his fingers, his gaze travelling from her hair, around her office and back to her hair again. "Did you say your middle name started with a "Q" as well?"

"It does," Quintina confirmed with a nod. "Up until four years ago, I was Q. Now I'm human and being as unimaginative as I am, my name is full of that letter. Does that bother you?"

Atom's ears perked forward again with interest and his tail bounced up and down. "A Q... an actual Q? And of course it doesn't bother me. I just didn't expect that to be your answer. I thought perhaps your parents were rather fond of the letter." He chuckled. "But you are not a Q anymore? I'm sorry... I guess this could be a sensitive subject. Please forgive my curiosity."

"No, it's fine. It's a part of who I am. And my past now that everything is so linear." Quintina replied with a wide smile. "Anything else you're interested in knowing?"

"Well... I mean, I could sit here all day and ask you questions." He stilled his bouncing tail tip with a paw. "Because I want to know about everything, but I'm pretty sure that's not why you asked me here today." He chuckled and his ears laid back in a more relaxed position. He threw the arm that wasn't holding his tail down, over the back of the chair he was sitting in and crossed his legs at the knee, his golden-green eyes settled on Quintina's face.

"Yeah, this is more an introduction and get to know each other visit than anything else." Quintina chuckled softly as she melted into her chair a bit and studdied the Caitian's features. He was quite handsome to her eyes and she had to wonder if that was from her old self or new self. "I have a somewhat personal question, if you don't mind. Do you prefer sleeping alone or with others?"

Atom wiggled his eyebrows and grinned, licking his lips a little. "Interesting question. Generally, I honestly like sleeping with others. It's more comfortable to me. Body warmth and all that. I have spent a lot of time sleeping alone as well and learning that I can be comfortable and sleep just about anywhere. The lab, a table, offices... you name it." He purrs softly, almost thoughtfully. "What about you? I don't know that much about the habits of a Q... do they vary like humans?"

"Now that I'm human, I like to vary my routine a fair bit. I'm in a committed relationship with a tree though. Our XO is the same way, interestingly enough. Can't sleep well unless someone else is there sleeping with him." Quintina explained. "Hence my curiosity. It might be fun to have a big snuggle pile now and then."

Atom's ears twitched and his grin widened. He leaned forward in his chair just a little. "A tree? That must be very interesting. I'm not sure I'm familiar with a tree species. But a snuggle pile? That sounds like something I could definitely get involved in. When I reached maturity my parents expected me to find a bond mate, but that never really happened. I think I was just too distracted with my own pursuits to want to settle down with just one person and it also seems that my body was in agreement with me. I mean, don't get me wrong, I've had my fair share of lovers, Caitian and non-Caitian and enjoyed them completely, but commitment is not really my middle name."

"Same here. Being human is really enough commitment for me. And I love my little tree so there's him as well." Quintina said with a smile.

"So, how exactly does one find themselves in a committed relationship with a tree?" His nose twitched and he exposed his front teeth just a little to make a soft brusking noise through them. "I'm sure he's not just any tree..."

"I was in Japan and I fell in love with him. Simple as that. He's a Japanese white pine bonsai and he's so handsome it's crazy." Quintina was slightly gushing at this point.

Atom raised his brows a little. He hadn't expected Quintina's mate to be an actual tree, rather he was thinking it would be some sort of tree-like species he'd never heard of. Although, in many ways he did understand. He often had what could only be described as a relationship with the machinery he had worked on. "Oh... I can only imagine." He smiled. "My Quantum Mechanics Professor was very involved with several of that same type of tree, although I do not believe that any of them were white pine. I would very much like to meet him sometime. I honestly had never seen trees so tiny and so beautiful. I tried to grow a plant once. It died. I was so bothered that I had participated in it's death that I never got another."

"I've not met a single Caitian that was that good at growing plants. Aside from nepata, that is. I wouldn't worry about it too much. And I'm sure you'll meet him soon enough. All things in due time, after all." Quintina spoke reassuringly and with a soft smile as she thought about her little tree.

Atom laughed. "Yeah we're not much on the houseplant front. Good at agriculture, bad at just having plants for having them's sake. Although, my family aren't really farmers at all, even though many of my people are. My father was a trader and my mother is involved with the military. She retired now, but still involved. It keeps her busy. My older brother is running my father's business now and fortunately not running it into the ground, so that's good. At least I don't have to worry about whose going to take care of my mother as she gets older. I have two sisters as well. Do you have any family?" He wasn't sure if Q had family or not.

"In a way, I suppose. The others in the continuum aren't exactly family-like though..." Quintina thought about it a moment longer. "Let's just say it's complicated.

Atom nodded. In a lot of ways he sort of felt sorry for her. It must be very strange to be trapped somewhere that was nothing like where you were raised. Not in just the sense of moving to another planet, but moving to a different plane of existence altogether. "What else can I tell you about me?" he finally managed.

She was curious about one thing more, actually. "There's something I've asked a few people since becoming human... I'm hoping you have a different perspective than I've heard before, being Caitian. What's it like to have family and to 'grow up'?"

Atom blinked at her. The question was a surprise, but he was a fast thinker and he didn't want to disappoint. He knew that somehow he would be able to put the experience into words. "It's a strange experience and you'll have to bear with me as I try and explain it in the way I know how. See... it's all about perspective really. When you're born the whole world is your mother. Everything is her. It's simple. The whole world is in her eyes and her voice and her warmth and nothing else exists. Gradually, you begin to notice the world around you. Often your siblings and then your father and your home and that is all there is. It is your whole world. Just you and your family and your home. Then as you grow you start to notice that there are other people... people your age, people your parent's age and very old people. At that age you don't really make specific distinctions about ages you just know that they're different. You start to learn about life... that your home and your family are not the whole world... and that the whole world is a much much bigger place then you once thought. Until you're an adult though... you only see the world through your eyes. The world only effects you and you only effect it. There is nothing else, but as you age and mature, you start to see the world in a different light. You begin to understand that your experience isn't the only experience. Sometimes that's overwhelming and people go back into their safe places where they only experience the world through their eyes... but sometimes it inspires people to do better... to be better... Does any of that make sense?"

"Perfect sense. I don't think I've heard it put better. Thank you." Quintina said with a soft smile. "I think more people would do better to come to the realizations that you apparently have."

Atom grinned and his cheeks heated up, although the blush was impossible to see under his fur, it was still there. "Thanks... do you really think so? And you're welcome. I just... coming from the perspective of not really growing up... or having parents... it's gotta be hard to try and figure how what are experiences are based on or why we have the reactions we do to the world around us."

"No, it's simple enough, but it's still a perspective I'm unfamiliar with. That's all it is." Quintina said with a soft smile. "I can't think of anything else to ask you for now. Do you have anything for me?"

"Uh..." Atom thought for a moment, his ears laying back against his head and his tail twitching next to him. "I can't think of anything. Oh! Will you be conducting the psychological evaluations? And when will those take place? And do you just have people come in all the time? Or just when we feel like we need to or are ordered to?" He grinned, like he was proud of himself for coming up with things to ask.

Quintina blinked a few times before bursting out in laughter. It might have been a slightly arrogant laugh, but she recovered quickly. "Oh my. Yes, I do them. And yours just took place. I'll do the actual report as needed but I psychoanalyze everyone I meet as I talk with them. It's probably a bit crazy, but it's how I view reality around me. As immutable as it is for me now, I can still somewhat see the lines of creation behind them all."

Atom chuckled, still grinning. "All right, all that sounds good to me. So when should I expect to hear from you again?" He wasn't sure if he should go ahead and schedule something now, or wait until she contacted him. "I mean... I hope I passed and you don't think I'm nuts," he said, almost as an afterthought. It seemed intended to be a humorous comment, but he was actually curious.

"Whenever you want to. Or in a year. It's up to you really. I'm here more for you than anything else. Well, you and the rest of the crew, that is." Quintina said with a smile.

Atom nodded. "Alright... it all sounds great to me. Let's just hope that nothing happens that lands me in here too often." He chuckled and stood. "Well it was very nice to meet you and I enjoyed our talk." His tail flipped back and forth behind him and he grinned.

The USS Camelot had gone from the still silence of being clamped in drydock at Vulcania shipyards to being immediately dispatched. It had caused the starship to pour in and fill with as many personnel the shipyard and nearby stations and starships could spare. Several transfer requests were rush processed and cleared, the last dozen parts that needed to be installed had been under the guidance of Commander Jennifer Matthews, Chief Engineer of the USS Camelot.

Now, the Camelot was traveling at maximum warp speed heading for the planet of Hamelin, a world that Ensign Pru knew nothing about. She was a woman of mixed heritage and this was only her 9th year of life, but she aged and matured at a level so very different than the human crew and other species. Pru was half Ocampan and half Vulcan. Her heritage had given her a very youthful look, one that would likely last for many years. As her friends would grow older with greying hair and wrinkling skin, Pru would still appear much like she did today.

It was late in the evening, approaching on the early hours of the morning when Ensign Pru entered Main Engineering. She was on duty now, relieving the prior shift. There was a skeletal crew on duty these next several hours as the majority of the crew had their down time and others trying to get some much needed rest. In Engineering, Pru had a handful of enlisted engineers to work alongside. There was an ensign or two on duty at the time, and a Lieutenant JG in charge of the shift. However, the Lieutenant had injured his hand early into the shift and had gone down to Sickbay to have it examined. This left Pru in charge of Engineering.

With the starship pushing itself to Warp factor 9.9, Pru could see the brightly illuminated core. It was casting a blue glow that lit up the otherwise darkly room at this hour. It was as if the ship was calling out to her. Ensign Pru approached the core and looked up at the large cylindrical power source. “I know my friend...I know” whispered Pru as she rested her hand on the work console. The sounds of the warp core was usually soothing to Pru, but the sounds of this core at 9.9 caused her t cringe. The starship was built strong and it could tolerate this speed for quite sometime, but the young Vulcan/Ocampan still was hesitant about all this power surging through the warp core. Energy had been transferred from auxiliary sources to give the ship's engines the extra boost.

Pru backed away from the core and retrieved the long case that she had resting against a bulk head. The starship was in need of her tools. At least, she felt it was. The other engineers did not seem to show any indication of concern. She took out her violin and began to play her musical instrument with graceful flow. She had become so captivated by her own music and the glow of the core that she had failed to notice anyone approaching her.

Jenni was deep in the belly of the beast, nursing her eighth mug of coffee for the day. Every engineer for the last couple of hours had begged her to get at least a couple hours of sleep. She didn't protest. In fact, she had tried it. As tired as she was, Jenni simply could not fall asleep. This was the first time since her test runs that the Camelot had vaulted to warp speed, and the first time she was doing so at breakneck speed. Even in her very comfortable bed she could sense the rattle in the bulkheads. What kind of Chief Engineer would she be if the ship flew apart all around her while she was sleeping?

That was why, in full uniform, she'd returned to Engineering to settle the matter with the inertial dampeners. Her team didn't argue, and cooperated to a degree almost better than they'd been the last few days. Once that was resolved, she'd moved around to a few more locations near the core, fine tuning the alignment of the magnetic constrictors and the flow rate of the warp plasma transfer conduits.

But now, she had navigated to the lowest deck of the Camelot to take another look at the antimatter injectors. They'd been problematic since before launch, always giving a little less antimatter and offsetting the ideal 1:1 intermix ratio. Aside from the pulsing warp core, the systematic thumping of the injectors launching another round of antimatter towards the dilithium crystals, and the cries of strain from the entire reactor assembly itself, the ship was now a quiet beast.

Jenni raised her mug to her lips yet again, only to pause when she heard a new sound. It wasn't... No, it wasn't the core. Or anything mechanical. This was... strings.

Yes!

The strings of a violin.

Where was it coming from?

That was the trouble with these open floor plans with the warp cores. The core was held with several clamps from injector to injector and the floor around them was mostly non-existant, save for several grates to act as a floor up in Main Engineering. Jenni followed the sound as best she could, only to determine that it was certainly coming from Main Engineering.

Jenni exited the elevator platform she'd taken to the main level to find a slender woman who had surrendered herself to the music gracefully flowing off of the violin she held. Jenni could tell that her arrival was unnoticed. She made no move to announce herself or distract the musician. Instead, Jenni leaned against a nearby railing, and closed her eyes, quietly enjoying the soothing tones.

Ensign Pru suddenly caught a glimpse of the Commander leaning on the railing beside her. The young Ensign's hand slipped causing the violin to make horribly jarring sound. She gasped and jumped back startled and tried to quickly pull herself together.

"Commander!" she shouted and sat the violin down to stand at attention. She had never expected to see much of the Chief Engineer herself, and most certainly not at this hour nor this close to her. "Ma'am, I...I am sorry. I did not know that you would be down here..not that that excuses my having my violin" she replied wincingly.

Jenni couldn't help but smile. "At ease, Ensign," she said, holding her mug with both hands down near her waist. She took note of the young woman's nervousness, as well as her unique facial features. Vulcan, yes, but she seemed young and... well... youthful and innocent.

"That was quite beautiful," Jenni remarked, her ears also noting the strains quietly emitting from the warp core. As she took a step towards the musician, Jenni turned her head slightly towards the core to acknowledge its existence before turning her attention fully to the Ensign. "Where did you learn to play like that?"

Pru tried to contain a professional composure, but a small smile cracked through ever so briefly. She quickly extinguished it with the dutiful posture Starfleet had taught her and the emotionless blankness her Vulcan heritage demanded of her. "My father...somewhat, Ma'am. He taught me to play the Vulcan Harp, but I ventured outward learning the instruments of other cultures. The violin spoke to me. However, one cannot the violin justly with Vulcan teachings and musical philosophies. So, I learned through listening to the greats" she explained.

Jenni did not possess any sort of empathic skills, but it would be impossible not to see the conflicts in her heritage. The matter was also not of her business, and pry today she would not. "One could not have a better teacher," she commented, turning her gaze to the instrument for the moment. The softly growing whine behind her began to beg for their attention. "What's your name, Ensign?"

"Pru, Chief" she replied with a small smile. "You sound like someone who also knows her way around a musical instrument" added Pru. "Do you play? Who taught you?" asked the young engineer.

"My mother taught me," Jenni said, daring to reach up and brush her hand against the neck of the violin. "She played ever since I was an infant. And she'd play for my brothers and I until..." Jenni let her voice trail off. It had been almost a couple decades now, but she still missed her mother. "I used to play her violin, up until a few months ago when I lost it. A friend of mine made me a new one, but since I came aboard, I hadn't the chance to pull it out." She looked back to Pru and added, "Once things settle down though, I'd love to play with you some."

"I would be honored" replied Pru with a smile. "Things have been rather quiet down here tonight, Commander. You should head back to your quarters and get some rest. It does nobody any good to have a tired Chief Engineer" she added sweetly.

Jenni smiled at the younger woman before turning to take a look at the warp core. Indeed in the last few moments the stressful sounds coming from the warp core had disappeared. She appreciated the ensign's attempt to get her back to bed. And now that Jenni was sure everything was going to be okay, she could indeed go back to sleep. "It certainly does not," she said, looking back to Pru with a smile just before a yawn forced its way through. "Before I do, just do me one favor, Ensign."

Pru looked at the Commander in a wanderlust. "Anything. Name it" she said with a small giggle.

"Play a little more for Camelot," Jenni replied with a smile as she turned back to the core once more, though this time she walked over to stand directly next to it. "Like us all, she needs a good lullaby to soothe her infant soul." Jenni reached up and stroked one of the magnetic constrictor supports as she spoke.

The half Vulcan smiled. "I would be happy to" replied Pru as she put her instrument in place and slide her bow with soft precision. "This is a lullaby to our starship" she added as she played the serene tune.

Jenni kept her smile as she looked back to the Ensign who quickly surrounded herself and Engineering with her enchanted strings. She didn't notice when a second yawn leaked through her defenses. Looking back to the warp core that her hand was still on, Jenni leaned over and whispered, "Good night, new friend," before walking away towards the exit.

Pru smiled and watched the Chief Engineer leave. She called me friend thought Pru with delight. She truly valued anyone that would consider her a friend especially for as strange as she was. "Good night" she replied softly as she continued to play her violin for the ship.

Instead of planting his butt in his Captain's chair, Kris walked towards the helmsmen's chair with a bit of swagger in his walk, placing a hand on the young woman's shoulder. “I'll take over, crewmen” said Kris, nudging the woman to surrender her station. Kris took a seat at the helm. “I recommend you all get a good footing and hold on tight. Things are about to get a little...interesting” said Kris with a slight deviousness in his tone.

"Hold on tight is so not what I wanted to hear," Jhu quipped semi-humorously, adjusting her stance and prepared to work with one hand while using the other to keep her footing. At least now she had the panel set up the way she liked it.

"Well, unconditional surrender is not what the Kzinti want to hear, but they will have to deal with it" replied Kris with a fast quip of his own. "Don't fall over, Jhu, the crew and I have a vested interest in that kid of yours" added Kris.

"I'll do my best," Jhu replied dryly, deciding not to remind Kris just how unstable the baby could make her these days.

Spinning around in his helmsmen's chair, the Captain Looked at the opposite side of the Bridge and gave a simple nod to the Chief Operations Officer. “Seras, hail the lead Kzinti cruiser and inform them that I am ready to accept their unconditional surrender immediately” said Kris smugly. “But wait until Commander t'Dharvanek has her footing at tactical station...I don't expect our furry friends to take that message too kindly” said Kris with a chuckle.

"Aye Captain," Seras said as she prepared to hail the lead Kzinti vessel, then looked to Jhu to make sure she was ready before opening the channel. "Kzinti vessel, this is the USS Camelot. We are prepared to accept your unconditional surrender, please stand down or we will be forced to take action against you," Seras stated over the channel, then waited with breath held to see what the response would be. Thought she may have been cleared to return to active duty, Seras suddenly realized that she was not ready for combat and sincerely hoped the Kzinti would back down rather than goad the Camelot into battle.

James sat in the pilot seat of the small Romulan frigate that his wife had somehow gotten her hands on. He didn't ask how she got it and figured he most likely didn't want to know. It was slow, sluggish and just about the worst ship he had ever flown, but the cloaking device that was on board was brand spanking new and worked like a charm. Again, he was sure he didn't want to know how Shiarrael had gotten it.

Both he and his wife had broken about a dozen federation laws just to get to where Camelot was, and now that they were here James could see docking with the ship was going to be a new challenge. The federation ship was being circled by Kzinti ships. There was not a battle going on at the moment, thankfully.

James looked at his wife, "Well this just keeps getting better and better. Think we can hack into Kerouac's ready room to talk to him with out their guests catching us?" Lucky for the two, the cloaking device was humming away perfectly.

"With all the other laws we've broken today, I see no reason why we shouldn't try." Shiarrael's hacking skills were nowhere near as impressive as her daughter's, but she did know her way around a Starfleet computer by now, and hiding comms signals in the area traffic was a specialty of the Star Empire's Navy, one she'd learned early on in her career with them. Working swiftly with the panel nearest her, she slyly disguised the signal behind all the background noise in the area and tapped into the communications system inside Kerouac's ready room.

James watched his wife work with a smile. "You get this look in your eye when ever you are doing something sneaky." he said to her.

But he was quickly confronted with an open view of the captains ready room. Kris was not at his desk. This was not a typical communication, so the channel was just connected through and opened with out the captains consent. "Kerouac!" James bellowed at the empty view screen.

Captain Kristopher Kerouac was in the middle of a damn tense situation with several Kzinti battle cruisers hanging around his starship. He was the helm of the USS Camelot, ready to make a potentially brazen move himself, but the faint shouting of his name caused him to pause for a moment. What the fuck? he thought to himself. He looked around the Bridge as if to make sure there wasn't some Admiral who magically appeared.

"Lieutenant Seras...did you hear that? Have the Kzinti responded?" he asked the officer at Operations. "Are we being hailed? Is there a communication of some kind?"

"Sir, it's... coming from your office!" Seras replied as she found the source of the communication. "It's reads as a Starfleet signal, but it's being masked. I'm trying to fish it out of all the signals running through this sector. I think I got it now..."

Kris turned in his seat and looked at the woman. "Patch it through on the Bridge. Main viewer" ordered Kris as he stood up from the helmsmen's seat and took a few steps back.

"This is Captain Kristopher N. Kerouac of the Federation starship Camelot" he replied to man who looked to be in a Romulan vessel of some sort, but the man himself did not look Romulan. "To whom am I speaking?"

James blinked a few times, "So much for privacy. I am Admiral James Tonkin, this is my wife Shiarrael. I'm sure you know who we both are." He let the statement of who he was hanging in the air for a moment before saying. "It's nice to finally meet you."

Kris' heart sank quite a bit and there was a tightness in his throat. Nathan's parents? Here, now, how? he had so many thoughts racing. "Admiral, I apologize for the lack of privacy, but I do have a bit of a situation on my hands. The Kzinti ships out there are not here to attend a bar mitzvah" replied Kris. "Regardless, it is nice to meet you both."

"I can see that. Not exactly how I hoped to find your ship Captain." James said. "We need to make this quick before someone uncovers this communication. We need to board your ship right now with out being noticed. We have a lot to talk about." He glanced at his wife to see if she wanted any input in this conversation.

"It's very important," Shiarrael tacked on. "Otherwise we wouldn't be here in a cloaked ship trying to sneak past the Kzinti who seem to have you surrounded."

Kris nodded "Agreed" he replied simply. "It looks a lot worse out there than it really is. Trust me, I'm not too concerned about the Kzinti ships. I'm about to ask them for an unconditional surrender...so it is bets we get you aboard soon" added Kris.

"They won't like my asking for their surrender" he joked. "Whatever you do, don't uncloak that ship of yours...please" added Kris. "How do you want to go about doing this, Admiral. Transporting over or docking aboard my starship?"

"We will need to dock with Camelot," James said, already starting to punch in the directions. "with out anyone knowing." He glanced around at the bridge crew. "Where is Jhu? I am surprised she didn't tell you we were coming since she was the one who called us. And Merith."

Kris looked over his shoulder. He returned his focus onto the main view screen. "Commander t'Dharvanek is currently at tactical station behind me" said Kris.

"Bring your shuttle towards the Camelot, cut engines and we'll tractor you into our bay" added Kris

"Rodgers that Captain. Tonkin out." James said and cut the transmission. Hopefully no one other that the bridge crew on Camelot heard it. "I guess if Starfleet picked that up we will know shortly." He said to Shiarrael as he slowly and carfully moved the ship between twork of the circling Kzinti ships.

Kris looked at Jhu. "Commander, can you lower shields when they are close and bring them in?"

"They're cloaked. That's going to be tricky." Not sure she wanted to know just how her mother had gotten a ship with a cloaking device, Jhu carefully traced the comm signal to an approximate location. "I can make an educated guess, but I can't promise anything on the timing."

The Captain shot a look at Jhu. "Do your damn best. It's been good enough so far in my time as Commanding Officer to get us out of trouble in a pinch" he said firmly. "Would it help if you had something to distract the Kzinti?" he asked.

Jhu nodded slightly. "At least then if our timing doesn't quite sync up, the Kzinti might not notice."

"Agreed" replied Kerouac. "Seras, hail the Kzinti again. Search the Federation linguistical database for some sort of insult regarding their slow response to our offer and send it their way" ordered the Captain.

"I'll try Captain, but you should know, I've never been all that good at slinging around insults," Seras said as she took his command literally and began to check the database for something insulting. "Though, I think the fact that I'm a woman should be enough of a zinger..."

Kris looked at Jhu "I'm counting that's enough to start drawing their fire on us. I am not about to fire the first shot."

"You'd better hope this works or I'm going to kill you." It was a pretty smart plan - funny even - but that didn't mean Jhu had to like it.

"Kzinti vessel, this is the-" Seras started, though she was cut off before she could deliver her 'zinger' as the Kzinti had reached the end of their patience and fired upon the Camelot. "Aww poop, and I had a really good insult lined up," Seras grumbled as the ship rocked under a second volley.

Kris snapped his fingers with a broad smile on his face. "Now that is what I've been waiting for" quipped Captain Karouac. He turned in his seat slightly. "Get that shuttle in our bay, Commander" he ordered Jhu.

"And transmit the following message in Klingon...'May the Kzinti cowards flee with their tails between their legs!'" chuckled Kerouac as he turned back in his seat and put the Camelot through evasive maneuvers.

Jhu made a tiny distressed noise as the ship's rocking nearly plopped her on her butt. Somehow she kept her footing. Firing a few well-placed 'not going to damage a thing' phaser volleys, she sent the Klingon message over the open comms and dropped the Camelot's aft shielding at the same time, letting the cloaked shuttle dock.

Within moments of transmission, the Kizinti's offensive attack on the Camelot came to a full stop as they switched from being the hunter to the hunted. Several Klingon vessels decloaked all around them, Birds of Prey and Negh'Vars laid down heavy fire on the Kzinti battle cruisers, causing them to just as Kris had anticipated...tuck tail and run like hell.

"Today was glorious day full of surprises and triumph" began Kerouac as he sat behind his desk recording his Captain's log. "I was not pleased that the Federation decided to abandon the Guidon people, but in the end they are safe. The Klingons will forever be in my debt..." he added before the anticipated interruption.

"Computer save log Entry" he ordered as he reclined in his chair with a nice hot mug of Klingon War Nog. It was times like these that he enjoyed returning to the big chair as a starship Captain. However, the ringing chime of his door caused his face to rain down with droplets of sweet sweat. The man on the other side had been an Admiral and more than that, the father of one of his friends and former shipmates. One who's fate he and Commander t'Dharvanek had been questioning.

Taking another sip of his strong War Nog, Kris sat the mug down and prepared for what was to come as best he could. It was unavoidable. He would have to talk to this man who came a very long way to see him. "Enter" he replied after the fourth ringing of his chime. "Admiral" said Kris with a nod, gesturing the man to take one of the two seats before his desk.

"James." The man said, clearly amused that he had ruffled the captains feathers enough that it took four chimes to compose himself.

James did not take the offered seat, but instead stepped around Kris' desk and beside his chair. "If I was actually hear as an Admiral I would hope you would at least stand." He held out his hand to the man. "James Tonkin. I'm here as a worried father. You seem to have a huge problem on your hands."

"If you were any other Admiral, I would have" replied Kris. "However, you are not. You are you and that leave me with more questions than I care to count" added Kerouac as the man stood uncomfortable near him.

Kris did stand momentarily to shake the man's hand, but quickly took his seat once again. "Okay, then. James it is. James, I can understand the concern of a father...but what the hell brings you here?" asked Kris. "And I can begin to list several problems and do not even need to leave this room to start with."

James stepped back around the desk and took the offered seat from earlyer. "Basiclly Captain, either you have left my son on Talos, your your Chief of Intelligence has snapped and lost her mind. I have a vested interest in both senerios. Jhu made a compelling case, so we came prepared to assist in a rescue."

"I have never once questioned that woman's feelings" replied Kris sharply. "We all felt horrible when we saw him die, but I have never been able to shake to feeling that he's alive" added Kris.

The Captain looked up at the Admiral. "James, I mean you no disrespect, but the man in question is Nathan Tonkin that does not know you any more than you know him. We can get into a whole debate on temporal mechanics and biology, but the facts are facts. You technically are not his father" stated Kris.

James shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "If it is the second that is true, we will be taking Jhu back with us." He was very glad he could have this conversation with out his wife there.

"Excuse me?" countered Kris with a shaking of his head. "Commander Jhu t'Dharvanek is going no where. She is an essential member of my crew and a friend. I will not have her sent away to some Federation Mental Ward" added the Captain in a quite serious tone.

James gave Kris an incredulous look. "Do you honestly think Shiarrael would let me put her daughter in a mental ward? That baby she's carrying is the closest thing to Nathan I have left. And on that note, do you think you could stop Shiarrael from taking Jhu home to get her help?"

James cleared his throat and leaned forward. "Fact is Captain, I didn't break several laws to get here to remove one of your officers. Jhu made a very strong case. I came here to get my son back."

"Look, James, I understand that Nathan and Jhu's unborn child are the closest things you have right now" commented Kris. "But Starfleet Command is not likely going to rule in your favor if it comes down to it. The rules an regulations regarding temporally displaced individuals is quite clear" added Kris.

He let a long sigh. "I know. You want to go rescue Nathan...assuming he is alive. But, we're talking Talos IV! I just got out of a Klingon prison where I was supposed to live out the rest of my life. I got sparred the death penalty bit this much" said Kris, indicating an inch with his fingers.

"Are you so committed to this that you want to die? At the very least be locked away for good?"

"There is nothing I would not do for him." James said very matter of factly.

Kris shook his head and let out a great sigh. He placed the palms of his hands over his face. "Ughh" he said before he could even look at the man again.

"You leave me with no choice, Admiral" said Kris as he reached for a PADD and handed it over to the man. "That is my official request for myself and a selected group of my crew to participate in a cultural and educational experience. I believe you are familiar with the attempts over the years of having crews serve on alien ships for brief periods of time? That's my request for myself and others to serve aboard a Klingon vessel."

"I am on leave, greaving for my son in the hills of Montana with my wife. I am most certainly not on board this marvelous ship of yours." James said, not even reaching for the PaDD. "But, with Captain Merith's strong recommendation and with her here to take over as Captain in you absence I don't see why Star Fleet would say no."

"Got it...you were never here and I never met with you" replied Kris with a small chuckle. "What size Klingon armor do you wear?" asked the Captain with a small smirk.

"Most likely small." James said with a chuckle of his own.

Before Kris could reply there was an incoming communication from the Bridge. Kris reached for the intercomm "Go ahead" he answered.

A young woman's voice was on the other end. "Captain, there's a Klingon General Melkor wishing to see you. He is requesting to be allowed aboard."

"Ah, so ol' Melkor himself came. I knew that old dog wouldn't pass up an opportunity to chase out the Kzinti" said Kris with a chuckle. "The General has my approval. Treat him like a welcomed guest and send him to my Ready Room" instructed Kerouac.

Kris looked at the Admiral "Our chariot awaits" commented Kris as he headed back behind his desk and pulled out a bottle of Klingon blood wine, pouring two glasses and looking at the Admiral. "Join us?" he asked the man, offering before he pouted a third glass.

"I would be honored." James said with a smile.

The temporary transfer orders had been all but finalized, granting Captain Kristopher Kerouac and a few officers of his choice to participate in what he proposed to Starfleet Command as 'An excellent cultural learning experience' which should have been enough to raise an eyebrow or two, but Kris did have a reputation for the unorthodox. Additionally, relations with the Klingon Empire were good, but as always, the Federation wanted to ensure they remained that way.

After taking some minor damage from their latest skirmish with several Kzinti battle cruisers, the USS Camelot, still under Captain Kerouac's command was on her way to Starbase 133 on the border between Federation and Klingon space for some light repair work. It was with great honor that Kris had 'accepted' Klingon vessels to escort the Camelot through Klingon space and to the door step of Starbase 133.

Of course the Klingon escorts were providing more than simple escort service. One of them would the vessel that Kris and his chosen officers would be transferring to as part of the officer exchange program, and Captain Kerouac would be commanding one of the finest vessels the Empire could lend him.

Starbase 133 would take the Camelot in for light repair work, allowing the crew at least a 48 hours of shore leave. Of course there was no objection when it came to that. However, a Federation transport had been scheduled to rendezvous with the USS Camelot at Starbase 133, ferrying a couple new crewmembers with transfer orders and assignments to the Camelot.

There were two particular crewmen that Kris had taken special interest in. One that Starfleet was sending him fresh from graduate school, and another that Kris himself had approved, a Klingon/Betazoid. Both men were science officers, but in two entirely different fields.

Kris had known enough about Lieutenant Da'Kar from previously reading over the man's service record and personnel file. Logic would dictate that Da'Kar, who had previously served as Chief Science Officer had the experience and of course the cultural background to be a part of Kris' 'exchange team' and serve aboard the Klingon vessel.

Kris, however, was not a man governed by logic. He weighed alternative options, and before Camelot arrived at Starbase 133, he looked over the other man's files. Dr. Scott Fisher, Linguist and fresh out of school. The Camelot would be this man's first actual post. [i]Or so you thought, Lieutenant[/i] Kris thought to himself as he made a change to his list of who he would be taking.

As the starship Camelot came to rest at Starbase 133, Kerouac was informed that the Federation transport had beaten them there by a couple hours. "Time to go fishing" he said to himself with a small chuckle as he left his Ready Room with a PADD in hand.

Shawn stood just outside the door to the shuttle bay where Ari would be coming through any moment now. His heart raced and he paced back and forth. Why are you so nervous? he thought to himself, but it was a fact. He took a long deep breath and forced himself to stand still.

It had been four very long years since Ari and Shawn had gotten to spend any real time with each other. The last time they had seen each other had been at her graduation from the academy, and save a quick moment alone Ari's time had been filled with celebration, family and friends. Not much time for the boy friend.

But here they were, somehow they had managed to get a posting together. How had they managed that? Shawn was still wondering the exact same thing. But the questions was quickly lost as the doors in front of him parted and people started exiting the shuttle bay. Shawn watched in anticipation for Ari to exit.

Ari looked all around the group of people walking in front of her. Why, at this point, at this time of all times, did they have to walk at turtle speed?? Swinging her bag over her shoulder, the girl jumped up to look over the crowd, spotting the excited eyes of her love. Her heart skipped a beat. She still felt the same as she did when she first laid eyes on him. Four long years of separation... Four long years of not being able to lie next to him at night... It was all over. Ari and Shawn finally got to be together forever.

"Shawn!!" Ari waved at the man, about to knock some people over to get to him faster. "Oh, screw it!" Squeezing through the cracks in the group, she ran to her love, dropping her bag and jumping into Shawn's arms. Shawn's warm grasp made her feel complete again.

As she jumped, Shawn caught Ari and held her off the ground. He didn't need words, he just pressed his lips to hers in a long over due, probably over the top PDA kiss that lasted several minutes.

"Get a room." someone said to the couple, but Shawn was so caught up in the embrace that the comment just washed over him with no effect.

After what seemed like far to short a time; even though the two had been in the hall for a good 4 minutes kissing and hugging, Shawn broke the kiss and set Ari down. He did not however let her go. He gazed lovingly down at her with a huge grin that a Klingon could not have knocked off his face. "I have missed you so much, I love you!" he said enthusiastically.

Ari smiled and kissed Shawn again, squeezing his hands in hers. "I love you too, Shawn!" She paused, taking a deep breath. She had to keep convincing herself it wasn't a dream. "It feels so surreal to be here. But finally the universe realized it was about damn time we got to be together." She let out her warm giggle, snagging yet another kiss from Shawn. "How long have you been at the base?"

Shawn reciprocated each kiss happily. He broke away from her just long enough to pick up her bag, but wrapped his free arm around her shoulders and started leading her down the hall. "About 4 hours. Just long enough to to figure out where to meet you and get my bags beamed over to Camelot. Do you want to get something to eat...or would you like to get settled into our quarters?" Shawn was quiet for half a second before saying, "Our quarters. I love the sound of that. Finally."

Ari smiled coyly at Shawn as they walked through the base towards their new home. "I think there's a few things we need to take care of at our quarters first..." She had emphasized the word our enthusiastically. She was ready to finally feel what it was like to be with her man again.

Shawn stopped at a door way to let Ari through first, taking the opportunity to sweep his eyes over his ladies curves. "You look amazing." he said to her, not trying to hide his gaze in the least.

"I am kind of excited to check out the ship." Shawn said as he followed Ari through the door way and hooked her in his arm again. "I hear the couples quarters are really nice. How was your flight?"

Ari turned and smiled at Shawn. "I could live in a box and not care as long as you're with me." The girl couldn't keep her eyes off of him, almost running into people as they continued to walk arm in arm towards their home. "The flight was boring, of course. I was tossing my baseball around and almost hit the pilot with it." Ari let out a loud laugh. She wasn't the most graceful person in the galaxy.

"You and that baseball." Shawn said with a chuckle. "That reminds me, Harrison asked me to pass along a holodeck program to you. Some baseball game from earth in the 20's. She said it was the Yankees and Red Socks and has some guys names Babe?" Shawn shrugged and hoped that Ari knew what he was talking about.

Ari threw her head back and laughed. "Sorry, Shawn. You're not the only Babe in my life." She jumped up and kissed him on the cheek. Shawn was a solid foot and a half taller than her, and while most people would find that a challenge, Ari embraced it as one of the many things she loves about her man. "I definitely need to hit a few baseballs around. They didn't really give me much time to relax after graduation."

The couple zig-zagged around the crowd of people that echoed through the hallways. Ari squeezed herself into Shawn's side tighter and tighter. "Have you met with the Captain yet?? Have you met our security team yet??" The girl was getting excited about her assignment and working side by side with Shawn.

"No..no." Shawn said accepting her pressed against him. As Ari tightened her embrace on him, Shawn buried his nose in her hair and breathed in deep, it had been too long. "I waited for you. Oh hey!" Shawn lead her over to a window that looked out over several ships that were docked. It was very clear what ship was theirs. It was huge and very different looking than all the others. "Look at that..."

Ari paused, holding her breath for a second at the beauty of the ship. "Home sweet home." Turning and locking eyes with Shawn, she gave him another kiss on his lips. Her cousin had always warned Ari about settling down with a guy too soon, but being with him in this moment just reassured the girl that sticking with Shawn, through thick and thin, was the right decision.

"Mmmm." Shawn welcomed the kiss with a pleased hum. "Lets go home, our home." He said to her with e bright smile. "I like that sound of that."

The couple's walk finally ended at their front door. Taking a deep breath, the girl shook her excitement an anxiousness off of her hands. As she pushed for the door to open to reveal their quarters, Ari's smile grew even wider. "This makes my academy quarters look like a bomb cellar!" Without hesitation she ran and jumped on the couch. "Pat would freakin' LOVE this..." The girl's voice dropped quietly. A sudden wave of sadness hit her as she looked down to the floor. "So would Charlie..."

Shawn moved across the room and knelt in front of Ari, he took both her hands in his and look into her eyes. "Your brother would want you to enjoy this moment, you finally made it. I know it's small comfort, but chin up. And welcome home Ari." He smiled up at her. "We should have a glass of Champagne if the replicators have it." He suggested to try and lighten the mood again.

Ari smiled, shaking her head slowly. She couldn't ruin their wonderful moment together by being depressed. "Bring out the bubblies, babe." She gave him a longing kiss, wrapping her hands around his. Pulling back, Ari locked eyes with his. "I'm so lucky to have you in my life."

Shawn stood and walked over to the replicator. "Two glasses of Champagne, chilled." And watched as the glasses materialized. "Its not a dry ship!" he exclaimed, bringing the glasses over to Ari and taking a seat next to her. He handed her one of the glasses and tapped his against hers. " No, I'm the lucky one. Welcome home love." Shawn took a sip.

"Cheers." Ari smiled and lifted her glass to her lips, taking a slow slip from the glass. Taking a sip, she slowly lowered the glass down. "So, you've got me... Alone... Forever... What would you like to do first?" She gave him a coy smile.

"You..." Shawn said simply and returned the coy smile. "Let go check out the bed room." He said and stood, holding his hand out to Ari.

Reaching out to Shawn, Ari placed her hand into his as he pulled her up to him. But she couldn't wait any longer. Jumping back up in his arms, the girl wrapped her legs around has waist. "We've got a lot of catching up to do."

Ensign Atom M'aarra stepped though the doors of the science lab and looked around. He was just one step inside, almost not enough for his long swishing tail to not get caught in the doors as they whooshed shut behind him. Not seeing anyone immediately, he exposed his front teeth in frustration, but he didn't turn to go. He wasn't much of a scieney guy, but he understood the experiment and didn't want to touch anything and he needed help. He took several tentative steps toward the center of the room, continuing to look around. Under one furry, tan and black arm he was holding a package. It was about two feet high and three feet long and covered in a blanket. His tail had other ideas about touching things through, and flipped and twisted in a large arch behind him. "Anyone home?" he called out.

The labs had still been mostly quiet, and if he had to admit it to himself, Gideon liked the quiet. Once everyone was on board, and the launch happened, things would change. Not that he minded, the work was rewarding, but once in a while he liked to just have the lab to himself. So when heard a voice, he was curious as to who it was. No one was supposed to be around at least for another few hours.

Exiting his office, he entered the lab to see a Caitian who stood just a mere few inches shorter than himself. The male wore the tunic collared of maroon and the one solid gold pip of an ensign. "Hello, Ensign. What can I do for you?" Gideon asked.

Atom spotted the scientist as he approached and grinned his best toothy smile. Damn, everyone on the ship -was- cute, although he was surprised. Gideon didn't look like the typical sciencey guy. He looked more like security or tactical, but he was wearing all the right colors for science. Atom cocked his head to one side curiously and continued to grin. "So I have a dilemma and I thought maybe you could help me. Do you have any heavy duty, non-toxic, bio-based lubrication?"

Gideon's left eyebrow arched. "Yes," he said simply as he crossed his arms over his chest, "what do you need it for?" He had assumed it was for whatever was under the blanket.

"Weeeelll..." Atom bounced a little on the balls of his feet and tipped his head side to side, before he chuckled, his tail lashing back and forth behind him. "I've sort of been roaming around the ship. And I saw the kids' area. So I started making one of these..." He stepped over to an empty table and set the bundle he was carrying down on the surface. There was a momentary sound of metal on metal. He lifted the covering and exposed several parts of a large toy of some sort. At least it looked to be a toy. There were two sides, both finely metal worked, that looked like a running tiger and four large springs attached to either end of it, dangling from the paws of the cat. "I noticed that they didn't have one of these... and it was one of my favorite toys growing up. So I decided to make one for them. I left the frame and bench back in my quarters. See it fits on a frame... and bounces... but the springs are... well they make a lot of noise." He ran a paw over his ears, rather like a human would run a hand through their hair. "I thought a lubricant would take that down a notch, but I don't want to just coat it with some industrial lubricant. I mean, kids put everything in their mouths... So I thought a bio based one would be safer, but I'm not an expert in bio based lubricant, soooo... here I am." He chuckled again.

This time, Gideon found himself chuckling as well. He had never met a Caitian before, but so far he liked the ensign who stood next to him. Anyone who was willing to share ideas and help kids out was definitely fine by him. "You are correct, a industrial lubricant would not be a wise choice," he said, "a bio based is more reasonable but because it's not synthetic, so the break down is much quicker." He tapped his finger against his chin as he gave the issue some thought. At the moment he reached his conclusion, he snapped his fingers. "I have just the thing actually, follow me."

Gideon led the Caitian toward his office, and then stepped in. "I have something that I picked up a couple of years back when we were doing a supply run to Cardassia..." He rounded his desk, sat down, and started opening drawers. "It's bio based but..." he pulled the large tube from the bottom desk drawer. "It won't break down, so only one application is needed. One and done." He stood back up from his desk chair, rounded the desk again and led the ensign out of the office.

Atom followed him into the office and back out again, not that he minded following Gideon. The man was rather well built. "A bio based lubricant that won't break down? I've never heard of anything like that. Although, the Cardassians are rather tenacious... leave it to them to come up with something like that." He chuckled. "Are you sure it's non-toxic? Cardassians are also rather... how do I put it... lax in their labeling of things... like ingredients. I'm not doubting you... I'm doubting them," he said honestly.

"I can't blame you there," Gideon said shaking his head, "but this time everything is on the up and up here. I had done some extensive testing on it, mostly to be sure it didn't blow up when it use, but everything is non-toxic."

Atom followed him back to where he had left his project on the table. He leaned on the table with one elbow and grinned, wiggling his brows a little and looking at Gideon. His sandy colored tail flicked back and forth behind him. "So, uh... are you going to apply that as well? Or... show me how to do it? I mean... I know how to apply lubrication... I'm just not sure if that stuff has special instructions."

Gideon shook his head. "I think lubrication is pretty universal in that regard," he said, "with this stuff though you just need a couple more dollops than typical but after that you just rub to spread." He shrugged. "But, I can certainly help out if you need it."

Atom grins. "Oh really? So that's how you do it? Just a couple of dollops?" He purred for a moment, while his tail continued to flick back and forth. "Well there are four springs... and they're pretty tightly wound. I'd like to see your method of application. Do you suggest one hand or two?" He was still leaning on the table and straightened up, crossing his long arms over his chest and looking at Gideon, an amused smirk on his face.

"Uh, one hand I suppose," Gideon said as he demonstrated what needed to be done. He took the tube, uncapped it, and squeezed two dobs of the bio base lubricant onto the spring. He reached out with his left hand, gripped the spring, and began to move his hand up and down to spread the lubricant. "That's all there is too it," he said as he removed his hand.

Atom broke into a toothy grin and his tail flicked back and forth. "Just like that then? I don't need to worry about all the little crevices? Just up and down like that? You think one hand is enough? Or would two hands work better?" He wiggled his brows at the scientist again. He had to admit that the man was very attractive. Of course, Atom preferred the XO, but the XO was a little out of his league. Gideon however he felt he was an equal to, although the man obviously knew more about science then Atom did. He pressed his lips together hard, making all of his whiskers stand at attention, while he waited for his answer.

"The one hand should be okay," Gideon replied though he thought this was all pretty standard stuff. "Though," his gaze darted down to the Caitian's paw, "you may want to wear a glove of some sort. It'll be a bitch to get out of your fur."

"Mmm... I can think of things that might be harder to get out of my fur... but I'll take your word for it. A lot of the industrial lubricants you can't touch with your hands anyway, so I have gloves. Although, I like watching you work." He winked at Gideon. He didn't want to push his luck too much. So far at least he hadn't made the scientist mad. He didn't even know if Gideon swung that way or if he was into furry bed companions. Mentally, he scolded himself for picking on the human, who seemed rather oblivious to all of his flirting.

Gideon - who hand was covered in lubricant - wiped it against his uniform trousers. A smile, much broader than typical for the tall man, gave a tip of thanks with his head. "Thanks, most people get bored with a guy like me."

Atom leaned against the table again and crosses one ankle over the other, grinning. "Oh no... I'm far from bored. So... you're like the head scientist type guy? I mean, from the office I sort of guessed. Lower ranks don't really get their own office... not that I get my own office either..." he rambled. The Caitian didn't seem to want to leave, perhaps due to sheer boredom, on his own part. "... and I'm like Chief Flight thingy... not that I really need an office. I mean what would I do with an office?"

Chuckling, Gideon nodded. "I am the Chief Science Officer, yes," he stated, then lifted his arm to indicate his office, "and yes, that is my office." He looked over his shoulder at the small space, then turned his attention back to the Caitian. "I prefer to be out in the labs, however, the office is nice to hold private meetings, and do administrative work if needed." There were times he also liked the office for solitude, a place he could concentrate, and clear his head. "So, a pilot? That must be pretty exciting?"

Atom nodded. "I am indeed a pilot. It's pretty exciting, but not my first pick. Of course I do like to fly things that go fast." He chuckled. "I've got about..." He seemed to be looking at the ceiling for a moment. "... about four thousand and seventy-six flight patterns memorized and I'm also pretty good at extrapolating. I mean, don't get me wrong... I like to fly, but Engineering is my forte. This was the first position that became available for me though, so I took it. I more then qualify for it, not to toot my own horn or anything." He grinned.

Gideon shared in the grin. How could he not, in a way he liked how talkative the Caitian was. In a way, it was a stark contrast to his own way of doing things, which was a nice change of pace. "That is certainly impressive," he said, "I can't even imagine having to know that many flight patterns." He shrugged. "I can sorta fly in a straight line." This time, he laughed... at himself.

Atom laughed with him. "Great!" he exclaimed, showing his front teeth in a grin. "If I ever need emergency help I'll know who to go to for sort of straight lines." He winked at Gideon playfully and started to gather up his toy. "But seriously, thank you for the assistance. I really appreciate it. It's not very often that you can march yourself directly into the office of a bio-lubricant specialist." The toothy grin remained. "And I think the kids will love this... I know I bounced hell out of mine when I was a child. Do you think maybe you can send me off with some of that stuff? I'm pretty sure I can come up with more projects it might be useful for."

"Sure," Gideon said as he handed the ensign the tube of lubricant. "My gift to you."

Atom took the tube of lubricant from Gideon and wiggled his eyebrows at the man, the grin still on his face. "Hum... you never know..." he looked at the tube. "I might be able to come up with some other creative uses for this." He laid his ears back in amusement, obviously finding himself funny in some way and headed for the door, toy tucked back under his arm and bio-lubricant tube in his paw. "Thanks again! Hopefully, I'll see you around!"

"No problem," Gideon said, as he gave a slight wave to the Caitian. He watched as the ensign left his lab, and then turned back to his own work. He was glad to have helped, or at least offer an alternative to what the young pilot was looking for. He also liked that the ensign took initiative too want to help and entertain others. Overall, it was a pleasant conversation... Then he thought about that conversation, he lifted his head from a console as the conversation replayed in his head. His eyes went wide, and then his eyebrows knitted together.

Then Gideon Nichols' cheeks turned a bright, BRIGHT red!

Georgia had just finished her posting on her training ship, the USS Timmis, when she got her transfer orders through, she'd never thought they'd come through so soon after finishing, but she'd passed everything with flying colours, earned the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade, and been told she could start applying for a vessel of her choice. Of course she never thought the USS Camelot would be where she'd be accepted, nor that she would be straight in as Assistant Chief Medical Officer. She was told the ship would dock shortly and to report directly to the CO, one Captain Kristopher Kerouac. So there she was, heading to the Captains ready room. She exited the turbolift onto the bridge, her shoulder length Ginger hair in a neat pony tail, and her blue eyes taking in everything as she walked to the ready room door, and rang the chime.

Captain Kristopher N. Kerouac lie comfortably on his stomach on the sofa in his Ready Room, his legs bent and feet swaying around to the low gargling and cooing roaring chants of the Klingon equivalent of a lullaby. He was mulling over a PaDD about the many bladed weapons of Klingon warriors through the ages and which weapons were best for jabbing a foe between their ribs and which were excellent at tearing flesh from the bone.

All of course was in preparation for the fast approaching stint commanding a Klingon vessel for a couple of weeks. In a few hours, he'd meet a few of his officers in the holodeck to go over Klingon martial arts and how to use several weapons safely. When his door chime rang, he thought it was probably Commander t'Dharvanek. In his most fearsome voice he could must, he called out "'el yInlIj SoH yatlh targh!" in response.

There was no Klingon word for nor direct translation for the word bitch, so Kris had to get creative and had said 'Enter with your life, you pregnant targ' instead. "Computer, open Ready Room door" he said, too comfortable to get up and manually unlock the door or open it.

Georgia walked into the ready room, slightly alarmed by the captains outburst. "Captain, Lieutenant Junior Grade Georgia Gomez reporting for duty. And sir, may I also add, I do speak fluent Klingon and would appreciate you not call me that again, with respect." She said, coming to attention, and noting the captains layed back position. "I presume you were expecting someone else Captain. I can come back later if you're busy?" She said apologetically.

As soon as the unrecognizable stranger walked into his Ready Room, Kris shot straight up and adjusted into a sitting position on the sofa. The first thing he saw was the ginger hair and for a brief moment, he thought Andy had come aboard Camelot, but the fire was quickly extinguished as the woman spoke and Kris was ripped from his fantasy world.

Kris smiled at the woman and stood up to shake her hand. "Captain Kerouac, nice to have you aboard, Lieutenant Gomez. Or would you prefer Doctor?" he asked, noting the way she carried herself made him guess she was Medical. "Glad to see someone knows there's Klingon" he added with a chuckle.

"You're quite alright. I was not expecting anyone...my Chief Intelligence Officer just has a habit of tormenting me any opportunity she gets" joked Kris. "Would you care for something to drink? Tea?" he asked trying to be a good host.

"A cranberry juice would be brilliant, it's been a long journey, and the replicators on the Starbase don't seem to know how to do cranberry juice, which was quite annoying, I had to settle for Dr Pepper, which is my second favourite drink. Sorry I'm rambling. I would like to thank you for getting back to me so quickly regarding the position, I was surprised you accepted, considering there was probably more qualified and experienced applications!" Georgia said. "And I would prefer Doctor if you don't mind."

The Captain had approached the food and beverage replicator and ordered her a nice glass of cranberry juice while he ordered himself a hot mug of Deka tea. He found the woman's personality to be upbeat and interesting, likely a good mix for his crew.

"There were plenty of applicants for the position, and our own Doctor Feigenbaum was serving temporarily as Acting Assistant Chief Medical Officer, but he did not want to seek the position fully" explained Kris as he handed the woman her juice.

He looked at her a nodded. "You're welcome" he added as he returned to his sofa to have a seat. "I don't care so much about experience and rank so much as I care about personality and character. I liked the clubs and activities you were involved in while at the Academy, and your choice in studies should counter and compliment the Chief Medical Officer quite well."

Georgia took the drink off the Captain and took a sip. "Thank you. And yes, i've heard many good things about your Chief Medical Officer, and hopefully they'll be able to help me, just as much as I can help them." She remarked. "So when's my first shift in Sickbay?" She asked, hoping to get started sooner rather than later, so as to get used to the ships layout and sickbay layout before they had to many casualties on their hands.

"I am not opposed to you going down there right now and getting some work done" said Kris with a shrug. "Hell, I am sure the Chief Medical Officer would be more than happy to have someone take some of the work load off his shoulders" stated Kris. "By the way Doctor, what was your specialized medical area?"

"Emergency Medicine, I prefer the frontline work, up to my neck in trauma victims. I worked part time as a paramedic while taking my academy courses, just to keep my experience up. Worst incident I ever attended was an explosion at one of the old refinery's. Multiple casualties and very limited supplies. We managed, but it was definitely hard." Georgia said, smiling at the thoughts of all the people she'd saved.

Kris reflected about the times he and his crews had endured aboard the USS Katana and now the USS Camelot. He himself had been brutally attacked and stabbed in his own quarters once. There had been hostage situations, diseases, and more than a fair share of scraps and bruises. "You may find yourself in high demand here" he said simply. "It was nice to meet you, Doctor. You may proceed to Sickbay if you wish."

"My thanks Captain, it is good to be here. I'm sure I'll be seeing you again soon!" Georgia said, turning and heading for the door.

The shimmering effect of the USS Camelot's transporters lasted for a several moments as the medical team arrived to meet with the rerouted members of the previous away team. Both parties would be meeting outside the entrance to the Primary Mining Facility, or at least what was left of it.

As the Chief Medical Officer, Chief Science, Officer, and Security Chief Thomas Jake came upon the entrance. The shimmering figures of their support from Camelot began to stabilize. Doctor Sylar L. Feigenbaum appeared. At his side was a young human female nurse who bore the rank of an ensign. Two other men, dressed in golden yellow Starfleet uniforms and armed with phasers turned on their heels and swept the area with their eyes.

Both were human males and crewmen. One was a little less experienced and gung ho about this security assignment. Kzinti had been spotted in the area near the mining facility, and their presence was soon made aware once again.

Kzinti weapons discharged as two Kzinti popped up from the rocky ridges on the small cliff opposite the Camelot's personnel. Both security guards returned fire, and one began to run off and head for the cliff. He was instantly shot down as a orange roaring beam hit him dead center in the chest. The man hit the ground hard.

The other security guard managed to get a clear shot off and took out one of the Kzinti, who lost balance and fell to his death. It was enough to deter the other Kzinti from rearing its ugly face again as it concealed itself somewhere behind the rocky ridges or the cliff.

Nurse Voss and Doctor Sylar L. Feigenbaum cautiously approached the downed security guard, crouching at his side and turning the man over onto his back, but it was no longer a man in the living sense, just a corpse. The medical tricorder that Feigenbaum ran over the body confirmed what his eyes had already told him.

"He's dead" announced Dr. Feigenbaum as he looked up his colleague and superior within the medical Department, Doctor Rajol.

TAG Dr. Rajol

Looking to pick off another easy target, the Kzinti popped up from the ridge line and fired again. The target was either Dr. Feigenbaum or his nurse, Voss. However, neither were hit. The blast caught Voss' tricorder, narrowly missing her hand. "My tricorder!" she shouted as it fell to the ground. It sparked and sizzled into extinction.

Phaser fire was returned by the remaining security guard and the Kzinti once again went back into hiding.

The remaining security guard, Crewmen Warner still had his weapon drawn and pointed towards the ridge line as he slowly inched his way over to the Security Chief. "Sir, Captain Kerouac's orders were to rescue these trapped miners. The medical personnel cannot get into the mine if the Kzinti pop up and fire on them" commented Warner.

"Cover me," Jake said as he made his way toward a pile of shipping crates. His eye trained on a Kzinti who started to fire toward his team mates. Hopped over the crates and hid behind a second one. Not finally closer he scanned the area looking toward what appeared to be a loose beam just above where the Kzinit stood. He fired his phaser twice and the beam fell causing a small cave in on the heads of his opponents.


Doctor Feigenbaum stood up and looked at his tricorder. He was attempting to scan for Guidon life signs in the collapsed mining tunnels. "Damn it" he muttered lowly. "I Can't read a blasted thing anywhere near this facility. The closer I get, the less I can read" he added.

"It's because," Gideon said, "the minerals that make up the rock are deflecting the sensors on the tricorder." Though he remained composed, he wasn't exactly thrilled that the team was being fired on. All they were trying to do was help.

Crewmen Warren looked at the Chief Science Officer. "Can you determine what sort of materials or minerals these mining tunnels are composed of? Can you compensate for it with your tricorder, Sir?" asked the security guard.

"I guess we shall see, won't we, crewman," Gideon said in a level tone. The problem was, all he had was a tricorder to work with. The Camelot's sensors would have been far more effective in 'seeing' what was on the inside of that mine. His fingers began to tap at buttons on the tricorder, bringing up the interface; and entered algorithm after algorithm. A quiet curse slipped from his lips as each algorithm failed.

His frustration was starting to grow; it didn't help with each passing moment, it was possible people were dying. He tried another algorithm, and his screen came to life with some activity, but it was still quite fuzzy. "I'm able to cut through some of the interference," he said, "but it's still not one hundred percent." He continued to try to modify the algorithm that worked, but was still meeting with limited success.

Crewmen Warner looked at the science officer and shrugged. Being young and enlisted, Warner had only very basic training and limited schooling. He, unlike everyone else around him, had not been through four plus years of the Academy or a University. "Can't you like lick it or scratch it, or something?" he asked nervously.

"Ah, yeah this isn't the olden days," Gideon said, "we have modern means to figure this out." He fell silent so he could concentrate. He knew they were in a hurry, he knew the time was ticking, and he knew they could get killed. His fingers flew over the tricorder quickly, trying everything he could to get the resolution he needed. Then... it happened. "Got it!" he called out quietly. "The tricorder can read some of the compounds, but more importantly it can read that there are hurt people in there."

The Nurse did her best not to chuckle given the dark circumstances they had been placed in. People were possibly dying in the mines, and at least one Camelot crewmember had been killed. "Besides, you lick the wrong thing one of these days...it's safer to get a reading on something than to make physical contact first."

Doctor Sylar Feigenbaum and his nurse were prepared. The Doctor looked at the Chief Medical Officer and gave a simple nod. "We have our orders. Let's get these people to safety" commented the Doctor. "Dr. Nichols, would you be so kind and lead the way" added Sylar.

How long had she been on board? It had to have been over thirty six hours, and it was the first time she'd been able to step into her office. The final installations were going well, including the final configurations. She hadn't checked her messages in days, especially anything that had been generated since first stepping on board the Camelot.

There were several of note there, including a message from her brother and another from M'rayr. Those she'd save for another day, or at least a time when she'd have a better moment to read.

But the repair requests were staggering. Many had been marked complete thanks to her staff, but there were still more that needed to be addressed. Every single one of them seemed minor. She'd noticed her Assistant Chief had worked hard at delegating those.

One in particular, however, caught her eye.

If there was one thing she hated working on, it was replicators. On her past assignments, she'd purposely rotated the replicator repair crews so that not one person in particular got stuck with the duty. This one, however, was labeled as faulty in the office of the Chief Intelligence Officer.

"No..." she muttered. Aside from select members of the senior staff, Jenni hadn't met everyone just yet. The Chief Intelligence Officer wasn't on that list at all. Jenni thought about calling up the manifest to see who filled the position, but somehow... just somehow... she knew.

Jenni instantly rose from her desk, checked the tools sticking out of the pouch on her hip and exited Main Engineering, bound to tend to the repair ticket. A turbolift ride and a short walk later, Jenni found herself standing outside the Intelligence Office. She swiftly pressed the call button beside the door.

And waited with a smile.

"Ow!" Hissing in pain, Jhu dropped her newly replicated cup of tea, shaking her hand as she mug shattered on the deck. A tea cup shouldn't be hot enough to burn her hand coming out of a replicator, especially not when she ordered the tea at a drinkable temperature. "What in the blasted hell is wrong with this thing?" she grumbled as the sound of the door chime reached her ears. Unsure of who was visiting, she went to answer the door herself, blocking the view of the shattered mug and puddle of tea soaking into the carpet. As the door opened, she didn't quite believe her eyes for a moment, and then suddenly her burned hand was forgotten. "Jenni!" she practically squealed, pouncing on the other woman and wrapping her up in a hug. "Please say you're here to rescue me from my evil replicator."

Jenni couldn't help but giggle as she returned the embrace. "Jhu!" After a moment, she separated from the embrace and stepped inside the office. "I'm so glad to see you! How's the little one coming?" she asked, fighting the urge to feel the pregnant woman's belly without permission.

"She's especially evil today. I can only keep down tea and junk food, which the doctors say is better than nothing." Jhu shrugged a bit. "And she kicks like a mule."

"Takes after her mother, I see," Jenni joked. Her smile quickly faded as she realized what she'd said, thinking that somehow she'd possibly offended Jhu. Jenni knew that Nathan's death had hit her hard, more so than most of the Katana's crew. Jenni also knew firsthand what it was like to grow up without a parent.

"She most certainly does. And don't look at me like that. I'm not offended." Jhu smiled a little.

Her smile returned. "Good, good!" Jenni looked over Jhu's shoulder and spotted the replicator. Beginning to walk over to the unit, Jenni pulled out her tricorder and asked, "How'd you wind up out here on the Camelot?"

"Couldn't deal with your moody ex anymore," Jhu replied a bit flatly. M'rayr wasn't her favorite topic of conversation, and admitting she'd basically fled the Katana to get away from him was almost painful. "It's hard enough being pregnant without getting grief about feeling sick."

"I'm sorry he did that to you," Jenni offered, though it wasn't her place at all to apologize for the cat. She opened the access panel and kneeled down to tinker with the mechanics. "And I don't blame you. I wouldn't have put up with it either."

"Not your fault. He's just a grumpy old man." Jhu actually wasn't sure how old M'rayr was, but the description certainly fit. "At least Kris responds suitably to the threat of a pregnant woman puking on his head."

"He's grumpy," Jenni said, chuckling at the remark. "Not that old though," she added, wondering what that would make her if the cat truly was old. Would that have made her a trophy wife? "But there's a visual for you, throwing up on Kris." On another day, long ago, she would have said he'd deserved it. But that was a different Kris and these were different circumstances.

"You think I'm kidding. I actually threatened him with it on Vulcan." Jhu giggled a bit. "After threatening to stab him first."

"I think I know you well enough by now to know when you're not kidding," Jenni said with a smile. It felt really good to be back in the company of friends. "So... you and Kris... Happy coincidence or was it orchestrated?"

"Orchestrated, more or less." Jhu sat down on the edge of her desk to watch Jenni work, close enough for conversation but safely out of the range of any sparks the replicator might decide to throw. "I went to visit him at Rura Penthe, but he'd already been released and taken to Vulcan. So I met him there.... well. He came and found me. Asked lots of questions about the Katana, then offered me a position here."

Jenni nodded. "Mine was just a simple transfer. At least, it looks like a transfer. I gotta say though, I'm happy to work with a warp core again."

"I'm happy to not be responsible for the entire ship's safety for a while. M'rayr was stressing me out. You're a better fit for second officer anyway... I'm not a diplomatic 'let's talk this out' sort of person. I prefer to handle problems by shooting at them." Jhu smirked a bit. "And Elements help me if this security department doesn't shape up because Kris keeps asking me to fill security roles. And I hate it."

"Oh really?" Jenni asked, almost sarcastically. "The only time I ever spent in a center chair involved a lot of fireworks. I don't think I've ever had the chance to sort things out diplomatically." She chuckled. "And isn't it against some sort of law to put a pregnant woman in charge of security?"

"My only diplomatic success has been convincing Species 8472 I wasn't going to let the Pedians kill their Gekli herd." Jhu rolled her eyes at that memory. The diplomatic victory had been short-lived once the Pedians and Species 8472 started shooting at each other. "And you'd think there'd be a law about pregnant women and weapons. I'm liable to shoot the next ensign who can't figure out how to set up a tactical station."

"Want me to hold him?" Jenni joked. "Anyone who crosses a pregnant woman deserves it." She pulled a flux decoupler out of the pouch on her waist and began to work on one of the matter transfer conduits.

"Only if you wanna go to jail with me." Jhu giggled a bit at the thought. "The chief of security is so scarce sometimes I wonder if we even have one."

"Let's just make sure this won't be Katana all over again." Jenni shut off the tool and checked her tricorder again.

"Kris knows better than to stick my trigger-happy butt in security. He'd have to explain too many accidental training deaths to command." Jhu smirked a bit. "How's the replicator look? Will it live or have I condemned it to death?"

"I won't lie," Jenni said, turning off the tricorder and closing the access hatch. The unit remained off, even though it was supposed to flutter back to life. She looked at it for a moment and then pounded her left fist once on the panel, temporarily exposing the tattoo still underneath her sleeve. Immediately it sprang to life. "It'll live to see another day. I'll have someone bring by a new unit as soon as possible though. Can't have you here unable to satisfy those cravings."

"It's not terribly far to get to the mess hall, so it's not the end of the world." Jhu had no idea why she was so hard on replicators. She hadn't even punched this one yet. "Thanks. I know you don't care for fixing the bloody things."

"Oh, fixing I don't mind. It's the perpetually broken that bothers me. Personally, I think they're so afraid of you. Must be that anti-diplomatic tendency of yours." Jenni smiled.

"It's been talking to the ones on the Katana," Jhu deadpanned with a slight smile. "I haven't punched one in months, but they break anyway. I'm starting to wonder if I should just keep an electric kettle in here for tea."

"Now that I could arrange. Maybe even a hot plate. But until then, at least you've got a 24-hour repair service."

"A hot plate wouldn't be very helpful... I'm not much of a cook." Jhu smiled a bit wryly. "I appreciate it though. At least you don't glare at me like other engineers might."

"Other engineers don't know you." Jenni smiled. "And others haven't served under you either. Their loss really."

"Yeah, well... they don't take the time to know me either." Jhu shrugged, though it was clear that she didn't like how people still avoided her, even in this timeline. "I think I'll try to cajole a cup of tea out of the replicator and then maybe take a nap."

"Sounds good," Jenni said. She took a few steps to stand close to Jhu before leaving. "If you need anything, anything at all, I'm just a call away."

"You have no idea how much I appreciate that." Jhu wasn't a very touchy sort of person, but she offered Jenni a hug anyway. With Maica still on the Katana, Jenni was the closest thing she had to a best friend anymore.

Jenni returned the embrace, adding, "It's really good to see you again."

"It's good to see you too. Come visit some time when the replicator's not broken, okay?"

Starbase 133 was becoming treasure chest for Kerouac as he welcomed aboard two new science officers, from the recent Federation transport that had arrived, and had been informed that he would be receiving more new crewmembers. In this case, he was getting a pair of security officers, one a bit more experienced than the other from what he gathered. A male lieutenant and a female ensign.

After having met with Dr. Scott Fisher, Kristopher was quite pleased with this new crop of officer that Starfleet Academy had been producing in recent years. If Lieutenants Fisher and Da'Kar were any indication, these two, Crawford and Gravano would be quite suitable.

Kris had had enough of playing hunt the newbie after finding Fisher, and had opted to return to his Ready Room aboard the USS Camelot, asking the Commander of the starbase to please summon Crawford and Gravano to the Camelot, to meet Kris in his Ready Room.

Sitting at his desk, looking over both of the officers' personnel files, Kris had already gave his blessing on the orders. They would be joining Camelot, but the Captain wanted to personally meet the two. A lot of Captains just let their First Officer or Second Officer handle these small personnel tasks, but Kris was an Commanding Officer who liked to actively be involved with his crew from the freshly enlisted, or freshly graduated, to the those who truly made Starfleet their career.

He sat at his desk with a nice hot cup of tea and waited patiently for the two security officers to arrive.

As Ari and Shawn made their way across the bridge, Shawn did his best to smooth out the wrinkles that had formed on his duty jacket when it had been hastily tossed aside about 45 minutes ago, wiped a bit of sweat from his brow and ran a hand through his hair all while Ari clinged to Shawn's left hand. He was out of breath and in no condition to meet his new Captain. So it figured that this would be the moment that both of them would be summoned to his ready room. At least Ari and he had a chance to check out their new quarters together.

Shawn took a deep breath breath to try and steady his ragged breathing and looked down at Ari, fresh beads of sweat popping up over his brow. "Ready for this?" He could not help noticing several of the bridge crew casting odd glances at the two newcomers.

Ari let out a giggle, matching Shawn's heavy breathing. Her hair was already falling out after she quickly tried to toss it up in a bun when the poorly timed request from the Captain for the meeting came in. "I think I would've been ready in about an hour...." She looked up at Shawn and gave him a wink. "I can't decide whether my hands are sweating because of you or because I'm about to meet the Captain...." Biting her lower lip, she turned her attention back to the hustle and bustle of the Bridge. And the first step of her new life.

Shawn chuckled a little and reached over to hit the door chime. Here they go, together finally. "I'll take the blame for your sweaty palms." He said as the two waited to be called in to meet the man who would be leading them during this tour. "And you can have all the time you want of me tonight." he said casting Ari a sly smile.

Biting her lower lip, Ari gave Shawn's hand a gentle squeeze. "I like the sound of that." There was going to be a lot of lip biting after the meeting....

Kris had received notification that the two were on their way from the relief tactical officer on duty. The proximity detector outside the Ready Room was moments from going off, but Kris had beat the alert. He reached across his desk over to a button to manually open the doors.

Outside the couple of officers were approaching. Standing there before the opened doorway at the thresh, Kris motioned for them to come in. "Lieutenant Crawford and Ensign Gravano, I presume" stated Kris.

"Come, come" added Kris gesturing for the two to each have a seat at the two vacant seats across from his desk. "Welcome aboard Camelot. I assume you found your quarters adequate?" asked Kerouac.

Shawn let Ari walk through the door before him, taking the last moment to run a hand through his hair again. It was sticking up to his right and he just knew that everyone who saw him clearly knew what he was doing moments before.

Once Ari was through, Shawn quickly followed and took one of the offered seats. "Our quarters are perfect sir...uh captain?" He stumbled over when exactly to call the man.

Kris held back a smile, but the way this woman was walking on eggshells was quite amusing. "Captain will be just fine, Ensign" replied Kerouac.

Ari looked at the corner of her eye, spotting Shawn's collar bent up in the back. Trying to be sly as the man stepped next to her she quickly reached behind him and straightened it out for him.

"It's really nice to meet you, Sir. I was telling Shawn that these quarters make my Acadamy quarters look like a bomb cellar." She let out a hearty laugh, a little bit of it caused from her nerves.

Kris' eyes drifted away down to the PaDD in front of him. In that quick moment, the Lieutenant's collar went from messed up to perfect. [i]Interesting[/i] thought Kris.

The Captain looked at the two PaDDs and then back at the two officers. "You two are already acquainted, then?" asked Kristopher, caught slightly off guard.

Shawn glanced at Ari, then back to Kris. "Very." He said simply. If the captain looked up their room assignment he would see exactly how acquainted they were.

Ari had placed her hands behind her back, playing with her hands out of nervousness. Clearing her throat, she looked at the Captain. "I hope you don't have an issue, Sir. I wouldn't trust anyone else with my life, and vice versa..." Her voice trailed off, noticing the serious look on the Captain's face.

"Absolutely, not" replied Kris swiftly. "Camelot may not be that large of a starship, but I am a Captain who understands family in Starfleet" countered Kris. "What you do in your personal life is of no concern of mine or anyone else aboard" stated Kerouac.

"However," began Kris "As part of this crew, Ensign, I fully expect you to trust myself and your fellow shipmates with your life as I and they will entrust you with theirs."

Shaking her head vigorously, Ari took a step forward towards the desk. "I took an oath, Sir. An oath to protect and to serve. Loyalty is everything to me. I'm here to keep the crew safe. You have my word." She paused, swallowing heavily. Her childish smile slowly formed across her lips. "I'm small but mighty, Captain."

"I knew a Ferengi like that" replied Kris with a chuckle. "Couldn't have been any taller than five feet, but she worked Security and later Intelligence. Feisty little thing, and I don't think she would have even blinked in the face of a Nausicaan towering over her" added Kris.

He smiled briefly. "I have no doubt that you will do just fine aboard the Camelot, Ensign. Believe me, you would not be allowed aboard my vessel if I did not want you here. However, Ensign, I would like to postpone you serving actively aboard the Camelot for a little while longer"

Ari turned to Shawn with a look of slight confusion, then back at the Captain. "Is there some training you want me to go through, Sir?" She was trying to hide the fact that she was disappointed in being held from duty for a little longer.

Shawn so had a worried look on his face. They had been apart for so long now. "Ari, sit down." Shawn whispered as he waited to hear when the Captain had in mind. Hopefully it would not keep them apart for long.

"The Camelot has a deficiency in Security personnel at the moment. I personally do not feel it right to pull my Security Chief away, and he could use the most experienced hands he's got for the time being" said Kris looking at Shawn with a nod.

Kris reached for another PaDD and pushed it forward on his desk towards the woman. "I am participating in the officer exchange program with several officers of my choosing. We would be serving aboard a Klingon vessel for a period of a week or two, potentially more but less than a month. I need a security officer to participate in the exchange program...and I would like for you to be that officer, Ensign."

The girl's eyes widened at the PaDD. Her jaw dropped slightly, trying to process the Captain's offer. "Sir... I don't know what to say... I mean..." She was trying to form a sentence that made sense not only to herself but to the other guys in the room. "Why me, Sir? I literally just graduated..."

"Because, I believe throwing young officers life yourself into very deep and very hot water to see if they sink or swim" countered Kris, almost jokingly yet still rather serious.

"Hope your bringing a good lifeguard with you." Shawn said, his tone had a slight edge to it, be he quickly turned to Ari. "This is an amazing opportunity. I know we have been apart for a long time, but this time it's different. This time when you come home it will be to our home and I'll be here waiting for you. Ari, you need to do this."

Kris looked up at the woman "I will not order you to participate, Ensign. This is a voluntary temporary assignment. If you do so choose to decline, you will assume your duties aboard the Camelot and someone will take your place aboard the Klingon vessel" explained Kerouac.

Ari paused, locking eyes with Shawn. She knew if he didn't want her to go he would've let her know. But he also would never keep his girl from going on an adventure, even if it means he has to be left behind. Keeping her lips pressed together, she was still nervous about giving her definitive answer. Was she really cut out to work with Klingons??

The Captain looked at the man. "Commander t'Dharvanek is an excellent lifeguard" commented Kris with a nod. "I cannot say this assignment is not without its risk. It is perhaps riskier than one could even imagine. However, you are correct in saying it is an amazing opportunity."

Shawn cast the Captain a slightly cocky smirk, "We'er security Sir, we known the risks. Ari can handle herself." Then Shawn looked back to Ari with a firm nod. He compleatly believed what he had just spoken.

Ari's lips formed a smile at Shawn. Giving him a wink, she turned to the Captain. She was grinning from ear to ear. "I'll do it, Sir. I really appreciate this opportunity.... When does it officially start?"

"Within a day or so, Ensign" replied Kris. "I have not received an official departure time as of yet. However, You are to report to the Camelot's Holodeck at 2000 hours where you and the others will be given a lesson on how to use Klingon weapons such as a Bet'leth" instructed Kris.

He looked at them both with sincerity. "I know that you understand the risks as Starfleet officers, but aboard that Klingon vessel, Ensign, you will be an Officer of the Klingon Empire and the Klingons aboard will treat you no differently. Beware of your subordinates, Ensign. They will not hesitate to assassinate you in order to achieve a higher rank or position."

Shawn blinked a few times. "Ari can handle herself..." He said again, but his voice wavered a little. The Captains last comment had not exactly steeled Shawn's confidences.

"I always love a challenge, Sir. And this is perfect." Ari turned to Shawn and gave him a wink. Looks like they've once again got a short time before they were separated again. "Thank you so much for the opportunity!"

"Thank you for accepting this special assignment, Ensign" replied Kris with a kind nod. "I understand that you are still relatively fresh from the Academy with not much experience under you belt, but you will be serving as the primary Weapons officer for the duration of our mission. You are the one and only Starfleet security officer being assigned to the Klingon vessel, be vigilant and on high alert. Aside from myself and Commander t'Dharvanek, we won't have the most experienced bunch of officers with us."

Captain Kristopher N. Kerouac came aboard Starbase 133 with a few objectives, but first and foremost was to find the last elements to his plan. In this case, he was walking through the busy promenade of the starbase with a PADD in hand. Contained on the PADD was a great deal of information pertaining to one Dr. Scott M. Fisher, Xenolinguist with a Ph.D earned from Starfleet Academy's Graduate Science Program.

The USS Camelot was to be the young man's first posting after earning his Ph.D, but Kris had other plans. He of course wanted the young officer who held the Starfleet rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade as he came highly recommended. There was a lot of room aboard Camelot's Science Department, and Scott would no doubt prove himself an apt Science Officer. However, Kris had different plans for the man. Though her would ultimately end up serving aboard the USS Camelot, Captain Kerouac had begun the process of selecting the man to serve aboard a Klingon Vor'cha class attack cruiser.

Kris had a rough idea of what the young man looked like from his personnel file, but the picture did not do the man justice...at all. It looked more like a mug shoot or the photo someone took of their terrified child as they tried to drop them off at day care for the first time. Clearly an Academy ID picture thought Kris shaking his head. A hell a lot better than mine was he reminded himself.

As he walked through the promenade of Starbase 133, he saw the pale skin and blonde hair of a young man sitting off in one of the corners at a table all by their lonesome. Kris held up his PADD which he had pulled the picture up on and compared it to the man. Kris let out a small wolf whistle, though it was highly unlikely a human would hear it. A Ferengi, definitely...possibly a Vulcan. You need a new personnel picture. It does not suit you, kid thought Kris as he ordered himself a hot cup of Klingon Bahgol which was very much like a wickedly strong tea.

The Captain walked over towards the table, pulled out a chair and spun it around, straddling it the opposite way and setting his glass down on the table top along with the PADD. "So....This you, kid?" asked Kris with a smirk.

Doctor Scott Fisher had been sitting there, minding his own business when out of the blue a man was sitting across from him. It startled linguist, which meant he wasn't really paying too much attention to his surroundings. Scott stared blankly at the other man for a few moments, blinked then his gaze fell on to the PaDD. His nose scrunched at the picture. He nodded, then slowly said, "Yeeeeah." He reached back and absently scratched at the back of his head. "I didn't get a chance to smile."

Kris snorted at the young man's humorous response. "Yeah, a face only a mother..." began Kerouac teasingly, but he stopped himself then and there. He had recalled reading a bit about the officer's personal history. Fisher had been an orphan of sort, though raised by a family. He had been adopted.

Captain Kerouac could somewhat relate. He had lost his mother before he ever could have known her, and his father too had died during his childhood. He had been an orphan as well, but was raised on the streets by himself.

"Mine was worse. Trust me" added Kris with a small smile. "You have been assigned to the USS Camelot, Doctor. I am sure you are excited about that" added Kris. "Captain Kerouac" said Kris, introducing himself to the new officer.

"Well, it's a relief to know you aren't some random person who happens to have my personnel file," Scott said as a broad smile formed. "You're a good looking guy, I'm sure your picture looks just dandy." He tilted his head as if in thought. "Am I allowed to tell a captain that he is good looking?" He shrugged at his own question as if an answer wasn't needed. "Anyway, I'm really excited to be assigned to Camelot. What good is an xenolinguist on Earth?"

Cheeky little flatterer thought Kris with a slight blush. Don't underestimate this one he told himself as he looked at the man and laughed at the joke. "Oh just about as good or useful as a Oceanographer on a planet without bodies of water" countered Kris.

Kris looked at the man and studied the man for a minute. "You have this whole young and innocent things down, but I know you are damn smarter than I am when it comes to Science. You have more education than I do, Doctor" said Kris. "And speaking of need for a Xenolinguist. I have an offer to make. Join me and some of your new shipmates on a temporary assignment aboard a Klingon vessel as part of a officer exchange. I could use you" added the Captain.

Lowering his voice slightly, Kris added "Typically, you don't want to call the Captain anything but Captain, Sir, Ma'am or whatever, but I don't particularly mind being called good looking."

Scott Fisher was innocent in a lot of respects, education was all he ever knew... up to this point. His social skills lacked, though he at times could be witty, and conversational. It all depended on who he was talking with. "First, will they have non-Klingon food? I mean, I'm all for different cuisine and stuff, but live food... seems scary." He scrunched his nose at the thought of Klingon cuisine. "Second, I'll remember to call you Captain or sir around everyone else."

"I appreciate that, Doctor Fisher. Although I have been called alot worse in public by a member of my crew" thought Kris as he reflected back on the names Jhu had called him, let alone the time she downright decked him in a staff meeting. Albeit he deserved it.

Kris chuckled at the thought of food. "I'll make sure we program some replicators with some less wiggly and jiggly things for you and the others. I used to be disgusted by Klingon food...but I got used to it in prison" explained the Captain.

"Thanks, I appreciate that," Scott said, "then I'm your guy. It sounds like fun, plus Klingons don't apologize for burping in public. Though I would never ever laugh at them, I mean have you seen what they do when they get angry?" He shuddered at the thought. Though he was taller than average, he was a bit of a beanpole. "Also, good look..." he stopped short, cleared his throat then continued, "er.. sir, you can call me Scott, but not Scotty... my mom calls me Scotty... I mean we aren't on duty, and I know I have that whole doctor title, it just seems so stuffy in a relaxed situation."

Kris chuckled and shook his head. "Well, we certainly cannot call you Scotty. We'll keep that reserved for your mom" said Captain Kerouac as he finalized the man's orders on the PaDD, and added Fisher to the list of personnel he would be taking with him aboard the Klingon vessel.

"We are likely going to be using a smaller vessel like bird-of-prey or vor'cha class cruiser. Klingons don't live a luxurious life aboard their vessel like we do. There will likely be bunk quarters two or three to a room. I am keeping all Camelot's personnel together" explained Kris.

He's practically a kid, fresh out of school. I cannot expect one Starfleet security officer to keep him safe all hours of the day thought Kris. "Scott it is. Though, I may just call you Fish stick" teased the Captain. "I am going to rough it like the rest of you and will give our Commander t'Dharvanek, our mother to be, my private bunk on the Klingon ship. I'll assign you to a bunk with me."

"Heh, fish stick?" A goofy grin formed on Scott's lips. "I like that." He found it easy to talk to this Captain Kerouac. "Your sleeping arrangements seem prudent, it sounds like fun to bunk with you." he then fell silent as he thought of a question. "Do I get to at least see the Camelot before the adventure on the Klingon vessel?"

Kris nodded "Of course, Scott. You can get settled into your quarters aboard the Camelot and unpack some of your personal belongings. The Quartermaster or the ship's computer can direct you to your assigned quarter." instructed the Captain.

"It's Kristopher by the way. Though Kris is fine" added Kerouac with a small smile. "Oh before I forget, you will need to report to the holodeck at 2000 hours this evening. Dress casually in something athletic or something you don't mind getting a bit sweaty in."

Scott had been anxious to see the Starfleet vessel, and was happy that he was going to get the chance. But hmm, something athletic, and he was going to get sweaty? He wasn't sure how he felt about that one. He tried to be somewhat athletic, and most times succeeded... the key words being 'most times'. "Aye aye Kristopher," he said, adding a mock salute to it. "I'll be there, possibly with bells on... or the one lone pair of sneakers I have." He then looked off, as if he had to give that last bit some thought. "Sneakers might work best."

"Whatever you feel most comfortable wielding a Klingon Bat'leth in" countered Kris a bit teasingly. "I need to make sure you all at least can somewhat handle yourselves with Klingon weapons. So, we are going to be having a crash course in bladed weapons and Klingon martial arts, tonight."

Scott's eyes went a bit wide at that. He could just barely handle a phaser. "That sounds like it could be... painful," he said, then shrugged. "Eh, I'm a quick study, besides if I lose an arm or something, it can be reattached."

"Please try not to lose an arm, Fish stick" said Kerouac shaking his head and sighing. "I really do not want to have a subspace transmision come in from some woman asking how her Scotty lost an arm" jested Kris.

Kris looked at the man and smiled. "You have good funny streak about ya, Scott. It's refreshing to have that around. In all seriousness, though, there will be Klingons serving aboard that vessel and your science classes surely covered their culture at least in some detail. Your subordinates may attempt to kill you in order to achieve higher rank and position. Fortunately for you, not too many Klingons serve in the Science Department within the Empire."

The kind of half grin Scott had been sporting fell into a thin line. Now it was truly time to be serious. Hopefully! "I understand," he said, nodding. He knew a lot about Klingons, their language, their food, their culture. He wasn't entirely sure he was cut out for this, but he would give it his all. "You know though, it would be a shame if I did get killed. I mean, you would lose the greatest linguistic specialist the twenty-fourth century ever saw." He joked because he was nervous, it was how he got through the swirlies, the wedgies, and the time he spent stuffed in a lockers.

"I might be shorter than them, skinnier then them, and smell nicer then them, but I have a mean tongue." Scott shrugged, then continued, "If all else fails, I will ply them with blood wine, and sing glorious songs of battle in Klingon." The thin line his lips formed then upswept into a small smile.

Kris nodded. "I'll be sure to warn the Klingons not to mess with you" joked the Captain. "You are quite right. You are too valuable to the ship to lose. Your linguistical knowledge and education made you quite sought after by several Starfleet Captains, myself included of course."

Honestly, Scott had been slightly oblivious to the fact he was so sought after. After he was handed his doctorate, he knew he wanted to get off planet. He recalled being offered a teaching position, which he declined immediately. It was nice to feel... needed, especially after working so hard the past nine years. He had wondered how Kristopher Kerouac was able to beat out all the other captain's in the fleet, but that line of thinking didn't serve much purpose.

For a long time, Scott tried to just fit in. Which meant dumbing himself down a lot over the years. Sure, bullies still came and went, but the intelligence was something he could always keep for himself. The talent for languages was just a natural thing, combine that with super smarts and voila, he even became Doctor Scott Fisher. It was pretty amazing. "Well, it's a good thing you got the approval. I mean I might have ended up serving under some stodgy old captain. Instead I get to serve under the cool captain with the same surname as the famous beat poet."

"It was well within the realm of possibilities, Scott" replied Kris with a scoff. "You were close to being assigned to Captain T'Ral, a Vulcan who is older than dirt and so by the book, it disturbs me" the Captain added. "Truth is, I called in some favors and practically pleaded for them to send you my way. They had wanted to assign me a Vulcan linguist, but I made a deal with Captain T'Ral. He could have her in exchange for you."

Kris looked at Scott and winked "I got the better end of that bargain" he added with a smile. "After we return from our little Klingon excursion, the Camelot is bound for the Delta Quadrant via the Beta Quadrant. I am sure you will be very much needed."

So the captain made a deal to get him? Scott had to admit that was flattering, though it actually made more logical sense (heh) that a Vulcan captain got a Vulcan linguist. The blush that formed on his pale cheeks was apparent. "The Delta Quadrant sounds exciting, I've committed to memory everything the USS Voyager did."

"Good, I like to hear that" said Kris with a nod. "Be sure to familiarize yourself with the reports from the USS Equinox as well. They encountered a handful of species Janeway's crew did not."

"Done already," Scott replied. "I kinda don't have a social life, so i research a lot of different things."

Kris smiled "Well, then, you shall be a valaueble asset to the crew with your lack of social life." The Captain gave a simple bow of his head. "I'll see you later for the training lesson on the holodeck, Doctor" added the Captain as his made is departure.

Scott wasn't sure if he was being made fun of, but decided not to dwell on it. "I should be fun, or incredibly hard, or well... I don't anyway, sounds like fun." He stood as the captain did then waved.

Freudian slip? thought Kris as he turned his head, blushing and walked away. "Oh I'm sure" said Kris under his breath with a chuckle.

Before Kris could disembark on his little Klingon excursion, there were command matters of great importance aboard Camelot that had to be taken care of. Initially, he was going to leave his First Officer in command per standard protocol. However, with the recent Priority One message that he received and his departure from the starship, Starfleet Command felt more comfortable with an experienced Commanding Officer in the seat.

Kris was damn well stern and defiant that he was not about to let someone come in from the outside and destroy the atmosphere and family he was building aboard the Camelot. He offered Starfleet Command a solution. One that they accepted given the woman's experience as a Commanding Officer and career as a Science Officer. She was essentially perfect for this mission, even more so than Kris himself.

Calling for a small conference meeting, Kris summoned his First Officer, Chief Engineer, Chief Science Officer, and Captain Merith. This mission would concern each of them, and the necessary changes and preparations would need to be done to the Camelot in order to reach their destination quickly. Due to the late hour, Kris reserved the empty Mess Hall to hold the small meeting with some hot teas and coffee.

Jenni was the first to arrive to the Mess Hall, and did so with a PADD in hand. She'd considered grabbing a mug of coffee from the replicator, but once she'd learned where the meeting was, Jenni found herself relishing the fact she'd get a cup of freshly brewed coffee.

"Captain," she greeted, heading straight for the drink station for a fill up.

Stace yawned right as he entered, but then had his game face on. He spotted tea and went right for it. "Good morning." He greeted both Captain and Commander with a polite nod and a small smile.

"Commander," Jenni returned the greeting. She walked over to the table that the Captain had set aside, sipping her black elixir as she went. With a satisfied smile, she took a seat and placed the PADD in front of her.

"Morning to you both" said Kris as he returned to his seat after getting himself some hot tea. "I don't know about the damn good part just yet. Though I won't have much say in the matter by the looks of things" commented the Captain.

Kerouac looked at Jenni. "Status on Engineering, Commander. Are we fully repaired from our little pissing match with the Kzinti?" asked Captain Kerouac as he took a sip of the hot beverage.

Jenni nodded, lowering her mug from her lips. "Even got the paint touched up on the starboard bow from that close encounter."

Stace let out a soft huff of amusement at Jenni's comment, but otherwise didn't interrupt.

"Good to hear" replied Kris as he shifted his attention onto the First Officer. "All new personnel accounted for, Commander?" asked the Captain. "Fitting in alright, I presume?"

Stace nodded. "Yes, very well actually."

Gideon entered the mess hall, wide awake. He typically liked early morning, the reason why was because he could get so much work done. With already a mug in hand, he nodded to the fellow officers that had already assembled.

Merith had taken her time leaving the infirmary to answer Kris' call to the mess hall. She was spending most of her time there helping the good doctor tend to the Arboreal pod that was incubating the little alien fairy child Kris had chosen to adopt, but their lack of experience with this kind of gestation coupled with the child's half Vulcan physiology was making it difficult to keep the child alive. She hoped Kris would appreciate the lengths she was going through to keep the child alive, but she needed as few distractions as possible, so as she entered the mess hall, she quickly sought out Kris to see what was going on so she could return to the infirmary quickly. But it seemed something was going on, something that involved a number of the crew! What was that man up to now?

"Ah the lady of the hour" said Kris as Merith walked in with her elegance. He had known very few women who could walk into a room with such dignified elegance about them at any hour. Such a sort list, but Merith was most certainly on it along with Captain Betina Adler, but that woman lost points for her terrible gastrointestinal issues. A Captain who broke wind like that...not someone you want to bring to a Klingon barbecue.

Looking around the room, Kris waited for everyone to be seated and settled in. "As you are aware, we recently took aboard an Admiral Tonkin. Merith and Matthews know the full extent of how important that name is. The fact is, the Admiral and I along with Commander t'Dharvanek and a selected few officers will be leaving the starship and boarding a Klingon vessel for....reasons which I cannot say" said Kris, hoping that would be good enough for Commander Brooks.

Jenni's eyes widened. Since coming aboard, a very small part of her had been wondering when Captain Kerouac would try something extremely ambitious, risky and stupid. She'd should've put the pieces together when Admiral Tonkin had arrived in the surprising manner when he did. Jenni also knew not to say anything right here at this table in front of the others. His mind was already determined and Jenni knew she'd never be able to say anything to convince him otherwise.

Stace kept his face neutral. He was willing to let the full explanation (well as much as would be coming anyway) finish before he spoke up.

Kris took a deep breath. "With me gone, command would usually fall onto you, number one. However, Starfleet Science has made a recent discovery near a region of space outside of Federation territory, in the Tzenkethi, Talarian, and Kro space" continued Kris, and he placed a PADD on the table and started to pass it around. "Note the spacial phenomena and what looks to be some sort of object" added Kris

Once the PaDD was in front of him, Gideon took a hold of it and looked. His curiosity was immediately piqued. He knew he had seen something similar in his past, but he had seen a lot of phenomenon over the years.

"Due to the crucial situation at hand and the nature of the mission, Starfleet Command demanded a Captain be in command. If not, me, then they were going to send someone from the outside in. I was not going to stand for that and brokered a deal" began Kris. "Captain Merith will assume command immediately after we leave this room. Commander Brooks, you will remain as First Officer."

Well, it wasn't ideal, but Stace understood the reasoning.He was green, untested, and frankly he'd pissed off some higher ups rather recently. Keeping the XO spot was probably as much as he could hope for. "Understood sir."

Merith merely nodded, though her displeased expression clearly stated her desire to have words with Kris about this later.

Looking at Mertih, Matthews, and Nichols, Kris focused on their specialties. "Scientist and Technical specialist, and Engineers will be highly needed on this one. Two very unusual things out there and I want to know more about them" commented Kris.

"Merith and Nichols, you both have strong backgrounds in science. Now, I've heard about blackholes all my life....but THAT?" asked Kris.

Gideon listened carefully to what the captain was saying, but this type of science was beyond most. "That looks to be a White Hole, but that is theoretical," he said. "Though not as theoretical as it seems." A slow smirk formed on his lips as he recalled all the research on the White Hole phenomenon.

Merith was not as up to date on the level of science and research of this universe as she should have been, so she would have to take it Gideon's word at the level of research on this, though in her universe things were not nearly so theoretical as far as her people were concerned. That knowledge wouldn't help her now, the Ba'ku (even of this universe) were too far away to ask for help.

"There are any number of theories as to what they are and how they function, but the going theory is that White holes are the end of a wormhole that began inside a black hole. There's another theory involving antimatter space, but there's no proof either way as this would be the first encounter with one," Merith explained in as simple terms as she could for the dummies in the crowd (ie, Kris). "It's also theorized that a white hole could be harnessed to become an infinite power supply, much in the same way that Romulans use quantum singularities in their ships."

Shooting a look of confusion towards his Chief Engineer, Kris added "And what about that? Is the White Hole of that came to be out there?" asked Kris.

Jenni accepted the PADD from the science officer and took a close look at the image. She managed to zoom in a bit more. Whatever it was was an odd shape, almost like a tapered octagonal building floating in space. "My guess is a vessel or pod of some sort. I don't see anything that looks like traditional engines or other similar functions though."

"If a vessel is coming out of the white hole, it supports the theory that it is the end of a sort of wormhole, but the only thing that should be able to exit by that point would be radiation," Merith said as she looked over Jenni's shoulder to look at this vessel. The vessel was familiar in design, but she could not for the life of her recall where she had seen this design before.

Kris may have not had a full understanding over all of these theories, but Starfleet had given the orders, and Kris there going to see to it they were carried out by the best and brightest he had to offer. "Merith, you'll take command of the Camelot with Stace as your First Officer" instructed Kris.

Since that had already been established, Stace just nodded to Merith, glad that he already knew the woman, he felt comfortable enough with the change, his ego would always heal, and she did have expertise in the field, a field in which his own knowledge was minimal at best.

"It would be months of a journey even at maximum warp. Starfleet cannot wait around, and the closest vessel with remotely the necessary science personnel is at least a few weeks away. We have the power that we need to make this happen, so let's make it so. Jenni, get those slipstream engines ready for their first test flight" added Kris.

Of course he'd want the slipstream engines fired up without ensuring their installation was complete and untested. Jenni smiled and nodded in reply to the Captain. She'd seen this coming when she first came aboard and had been working on getting them ready. "I'll still need about twelve hours to double check the systems before firing up the drive systems," Jenni told both Captains. "There's no point of firing it up and being stranded somewhere we don't want to be." Or worse...

"Agreed" replied Kris simply. "There shall be no crossing of dimensions, realities, universe, or time jumping while I am not aboard."

Shooting a glance at the Chief Science Officer's direction, the Captain continued. "Doctor, work with whomever you need to get a better idea of what that vessel is. Once the Camelot is within range, I recommend Matthews takes a team of engineers and scientists to board it after you confirm that thing has no crew" said Kris firmly.

Jenni nodded, bearing a half smile. As much as she enjoyed an opportunity of a lifetime, she hadn't forgotten about whatever Kris was so keen on concealing. She looked down at the image on the PADD once more at the strange looking vessel, wondering once more what it was and what exactly was on that thing.

After the program was started, Captain Kerouac cautiously entered the holodeck. It had been Lieutenant Da'kar who had assisted the Captain and some security officers in creating this program for Kerouac and his selected bunch's training. The simulated air was thick, warm to breath in and the humidity was high. The jungle foliage concealed the animal life, but sounds of birds and other creatures could be heard off in the distance.

Kris had extended the invitation to the Admiral in order to allow the man to see how serious Kris was taking this little Klingon excursion in order to potentially rescue the Admiral's son. If there was any chance that Lieutenant Commander Tonkin...Nathan was alive, Kris was going to put it all to rest. He did not want to be kept awake at night wondering if he had left a man behind on Talos IV.

As Kris approached a long table, he found Klingon weapons lying there for the taking. Mek'leths, Bat'leths, Haf'leth and several smaller knife and dagger like weapons. It was soon time and Kris was expecting his crew to enter the holodeck to meet him.

The arch appeared and the doorway opened allowing the first of those to arrive. "yI'el," He greeted them in an informal Klingon greeting. "As you passed through that arch, you left the lives you knew behind. Today, you are Klingon... if not by appearance than by spirit and heart."

Jhu hadn't been surprised by the invitation to whatever training simulation that Kris had set up, but the warmth of the simulated environment surprised her all right. She'd barely stepped through the arch before shedding the heavy winter-weight jacket she'd been wearing for the past several weeks, discarding it near the door. "Klingon, huh? I'm not sure if I should be grateful or try to kill you."

"Killing him would be counter productive to our goals." James said right behind his step-daughter. "Let's at least get to where we are going before you threaten bodily harm." The admiral was vague about the destination of this little group on purposely.

James Eyes the table. "Hand to hand?" He asked Kerouac.

Kris looked at them both and grunted. "You can discuss killing me when we board our vessel. For now, let's focus on staying alive and not getting assassinated by our rowdy Klingon crew," he commented. "If a Klingon is going to attack one of us, it will be with a bladed weapon, not a disruptor."

"I've used a mek'leth a few times," Jhu commented offhandedly, surveying the assortment of weapons strewn across the table. "The Katana's security department hated me. I made them train with blades... real ones. Up until someone whined to the cat that they'd gotten cut up during a session, anyway."

"That's what happens when you let the Cat out of the bag" said Kris giving Jhu a nod. "I wanted you here not because you need training for this mission, Jhu. I wanted you here to help me train them," explained Kris.

"Sounds good to me. My daughter's kind of in the way, but I think I can manage." At least it was warm, actually warm enough that Jhu could feel sweat beading up along her hair line. It was rare that she got to enjoy such warmth, and if enjoying it meant teaching novices how to use Klingon weapons, she was happy to do it. "Who else is coming, anyway?"

Kris looked at her teasingly and smirked. "Some of Starfleet's most baby faced ensigns you have ever laid your eyes on, and a Science Doctor fresh out of school."

"We're doomed," Jhu replied flatly, using the arch's controls to conjure up the soft weapons belt that Klingons used to carry their mek'leths. Swiftly adjusting its length to account for her unborn child, she secured it in place before picking up one of the mek'leths and tucking it safely at the small of her back.

"Mmm," was the simple noise Kris gave as a response. "I'd tell you to stop being such a bitch, but I know that would fall on deaf ears. Besides, I like you to be you," added Kris.

The doors to the holodeck opened and the bright eyed Cairn stepped through the door, her ponytail swishing behind her with her upbeat gait, but then she paused when she saw what she had walked in on. She was beginning to think she had walked in on the wrong holodeck.

"Ummm, am I in the right place?" Seras asked curiously. "I was called down for some kind of 'training', but this doesn't look right..." She stepped further in warily, her eyes suddenly not so bright but rather clouded by anxiety and fear. What was going on?!

"Ah yes," said Kris simply. "I forgot to tell you that I've enlisted you in a little tour aboard a Klingon vessel, Lieutenant," said Kris. In truth, he had not forgotten. He just didn't want to move hell and earth to get the woman to come to training. She was trapped now. "You'll be learning to fight like Klingons... or at least be somewhat familiar with the concepts."

Scott Fisher entered the holodeck clad in a black v-neck tee that hugged his thin torso, a pair of gray sweat shorts, and his running sneakers. Blue eyes roamed the area, and a smile played on his lips. He saw the captain and the pregnant woman and waved to them both.

Kris, standing by Jhu, waved back at Fisher. Leaning into Jhu's ear, Kris whispered "That's fish stick. The Scientist. He's quite funny, you probably won't like him. And don't get any ideas, I'm laying claim to that," joked Kris.

"Why are we boarding a Klingon vessel?" Seras asked warily as she wrung her hands together. She had been cleared to return to duty, but she was not cleared for active combat!

"Starfleet vessels can't go to Talos IV," Jhu answered flatly. "You're the only one who can verify what Nathan told you, Seras. Whatever secret he shared with you was one he never shared with me, otherwise you'd have no proof he was real."

Ensign R'Aattom M'aarra joined the group quietly, through the archway. He didn't want to interrupt the conversation and knew he was running a little behind, so he remained quiet and unobtrusive.

Kris looked at Jhu with eyes wide and let out a heavy sigh. "Commander t'Dharvanek," said Kris formally. "I had not yet informed the... young officers where we would be heading," he said in a somewhat of a whisper.

"Not my problem," Jhu replied with a crooked smile. "They would find out soon enough. No point in keeping it a secret... it's better that they're prepared for what's going to happen when we arrive there."

He had to admit defeat when faced with it. There was no arguing with Jhu, pregnant or otherwise. Her rationality and logic was cold, brutal, but damn accurate. "Valid point as usual," he said simply. Looking to the young officers he added "What the Commander said is not a joke. Once aboard the Klingon vessel which I have taken the liberty to rename the IKS Shira, we will be heading for Talos IV."

Scott stood there, listening to the exchange, his smile never faltering. He then raised his hand. "Excuse me," he started, "I thought the bans on Talos Four were lifted by Starfleet? Isn't there technology that was developed that could detect the difference between reality and Talosian illusion?" His hand fell back to his side. "But I know that was before 2380, I am only up on Talosian history up until 2388... though if there is technology, that wouldn't have changed. Unless the Camelot isn't privy to that tech, which might make sense since the nature of our mission is more of exploration, and..." He promptly closed his mouth, and his hands went to the small of his back, however the goofy, innocent smile never left his lips.

The kids speaks thought Kris. Best not let this get long winded he thought taking a small breath. "Talos IV is a very touchy subject, Doctor. Without going too deeply into temporal matters and timelines... you may have not been informed when I asked for your assignment here, but Commander t'Dharvanek, some of the crew, and myself are not from this place in time. We crossed into your universe and time with my previous command. Where we came from Talos IV was still highly forbidden by the Federation and Starfleet," explained Kris.

"That said, we uh... we're the reason Talos IV has since been sealed off from the Federation and Starfleet here and now. I attempted to seek help from the Talosians and certain forbidden technology to get my crew home. In the end things did not work out and I could not get the crew home. Things with the Talosians got hostile and one of my crew members was killed... or so we thought. Regardless, I went to prison for my actions Talos IV is entirely off limits to Federations starships, but Commander t'Dharvanek and I feel there's a very strong possibility our friend is alive and is still on Talos IV. If Starfleet has taught me one thing... it is to never leave a man behind."

"He is alive," Seras assured Kris seriously. "As the Commander stated, I came to possess a piece of personal information shared between Nathan Tonkin and another person, acquired during a shared dream in which Mr. Tonkin made contact with the Commander, but she had no knowledge of this secret. But I was able to confirm the validity of this information with this other person, a petty officer Andrea Carter. What else is to be concluded except that the information came from the source, meaning Nathan Tonkin is out there waiting for someone to come get him."

Kris smiled slightly. "I stand corrected. However, I also have to stand with other possibilities as much as I may not want to. Regardless, it is enough for me to arrange all of this so that we can get Commander Tonkin back safely."

"I still do not understand why we have to do training? Aren't the Klingons our allies?" Seras asked sheepishly.

The Captain looked at Seras as he picked up a Bat'leth and wielded it, swinging it towards her head, but missing intentionally. "A Klingon won't miss. They are our allies, but they still assassinate one another aboard their vessels to gain rank and status. We should not expect to be treated any differently."

The blade passed closer to Seras' prosthetic ear than she was comfortable with; in fact it was too close, close enough to spark a chain of memories that had Seras stumbling back with a terrified gasp. She looked at Kris like she wasn't really seeing him, but rather seeing through him or maybe seeing something else that wasn't really there, like maybe some Cardassians... One thing was certain, she was not ready for this!

Jhu gave Kris a look that plainly said she thought he was a bit of an idiot, even as she freed the mek'leth from her belt and intercepted his intentionally missed strike, the two blades clanging loudly in the near silent holodeck. Looking over her shoulder at Seras, she recognized some of the fear in the other woman's eyes. "You will have to fight," she said quietly, just loudly enough for everyone gathered there to hear her. "Neither of us will hurt any of you, but you must be ready to stand against a Klingon attacker who desires your death for some imagined slight. No one said this would be easy."

Kris looked out at the young officers and nodded. "She speaks the truth. As much as the Klingon are our allies, Klingons are an entirely different creature and culture than ourselves. Once they get into a battle driven rampage and they can taste the blood, it is hard to snap them out of it," added Kris.

He pointed at Jhu. "The Commander is well trained in several dozen types of weapons be they phasers and disruptors to bladed weapons. She once killed a man with her legs, nearly popped his eyes right out of his sockets... squeezed him like a ripe grape."

"I can kill people with my brain," Seras said sadly, casting a knowing glance to Jhu. During the dream sharing, Jhu had felt a small fraction of what the Cairn mind was capable of, the pressure building in her head; if Seras had pushed Jhu too far, she could have done irreparable damage. Not to mention, there was at least one Cardassian who had fallen as a result of Seras' fear and anger during her captivity...

"Sir, I want to go. I want to help, and I feel reasonably certain that I'll be able to see through the Talosian illusions to make sure we all stay safe, but I won't be able to fight," Seras continued as she looked back at the Captain. She looked like she was about ready to run from the holodeck, and yet she was still there; so strong was her determination to help Nathan Tonkin, a complete stranger to her, that she was willing to stay even though the idea of fighting again terrified her.

One look into those eyes as she mentioned fighting, and Kris could see the pain within. There had been a lot of damage inflicted upon this girl's soul, the officer was still there, but there were wounds deeper than most could even begin to understand. Even Kris could not say he truly understood her, but in her eyes and in her voice, he saw and heard something he too had suffered after being a prisoner of the Cardassians and the Breen during the war.

"Train with us, Seras. That is all we're asking," he said gently. "I do not wish to put you or the others through any actual fighting... and I will do my damn best to prevent the Klingons from getting rowdy. With Commander t'Dharvanek aboard, a Klingon won't lay so much as a finger on you without having his neck snapped."

"I'll try," Seras said softly after a long while, offering a nod with a pained expression. She didn't want to, but she wanted to help; she needed to prove that she could do this, that she could help!

"That's all we ask," replied Kris. "Atom and Fisher, pick whatever weapon you two feel most comfortable with," instructed Kris.

Atom's long tail flicked back and forth and he stared at the table of weapons. He wasn't much of a fighter, but it was in his blood. His people had, at one time, been fighting focused, but their struggles had mostly played out internally, almost driving particular secs of their people into extinction. He reached for a pair of long, wicked looking daggers. They were what attracted him the most. "Are these okay?" he asked, unsure. The heat of the place was a little uncomfortable since he was dressed head to toe in a fur coat, no matter how short that fur happened to be. He laid his tufted ears back and let his tongue loll out of his mouth a little to dissipate some of the temperature and humidity.

Scott surveyed the weapons, his analytical mind whirring as he tried to decipher what would be the best fit for him specifically. To him the bat'leth would be too cumbersome, but that was because he wasn't as coordinated as he would have liked. So, the only other alternative, in his opinion, was the mek'leth. He picked it up gingerly, it was lighter than he expected. He gripped the handle tightly, his forearm tensed.


"Whatever's comfortable in your hands, Atom." Her altercations with M'rayr aside, Jhu knew that the Caitians had put aside violence generations ago and were largely a peaceful people now. She hated to encourage the young Caitian to turn to violent acts, but for him to survive on a Klingon ship he had to at least be willing to defend himself. "I won't ask you to use your claws... I know how taboo that is."

Kris watched as the two officers handled their weapons. "Don't be so... controlled with them. Let those weapons become part of your body, move them with ease just as you'd move your own limbs," instructed Kris.

"Computer, activate the warriors," ordered Kris as several Klingon warriors appeared, armed with various weapons. "I have them set to be rather easy... for Klingons at least," he said with a chuckle as he picked up a weapon himself.

Atom nodded to Jhu and spent several moments re-positioning the weapons in his paws. It felt odd to hold a weapon that wasn't a phaser. He appreciated her concern for his claws and she was right, it was a rather serious taboo to use them against someone, but Atom felt that if it came down to the wire and it was all he had against the face of death that his people would forgive him. He eyed the warriors as they appeared with various weapons in their hands. Even as a peaceful race though he had practiced some fighting skills in the academy. He spun one of the daggers with ease, flipping it in his paw and managing to look rather fancy, but the other he dropped when he tried the same maneuver. Embarrassed, he scooped it up quickly and offered his teammates a toothy grin. "Okay... so it's been awhile."

Scott did as the captain had suggested, he allowed his hand to loosen the grip on the mek'leth. He gave an experimental swing, and almost lost his grip on the weapon. He didn't want to let his new commanding officer down, so he adjusted his grip, which worked a bit better. Then, the warriors materialized, and Scott found himself taking an involuntary step back. Though he was slightly taller then the average human male, he was still quite diminutive compared to the warriors who stood before him. Again, his hand gripped the handle of the mek'leth tightly, his forearm tensed, followed by his bicep doing the same. The only thing I can bring to this physically wise is quickness and agility, he thought to himself. That was the only thing he could use by way of defense.

Seras grabbed a knife and simply reacted as the Klingon warriors came to life, ducking an weaving around the fierce bladed attacks. For a moment, it looked like she could hold her own against against the tall, burly warriors, but simply brushing up against one of the holographic fighters had her coming undone. She staggered back with a pained expression, and her distraction was all that was necessary for another warrior to come in and grab her. He was just a hologram and he wasn't even holding her that tight, but it was enough to send her right back to the brig on the Cardassian ship where she had been tortured. She cried out like she had been stabbed, but she wasn't even injured; why couldn't she leave that place, why did it have to keep haunting her?!

Steeling his nerves, Scott let out a war cry in Klingon (which he startled himself even), and ran toward the nearest Klingon. In a smooth arc, he brought his arm down, and... missed. The Klingon moved, laughed a big hardy laugh, and swung his own weapon at the linguist. Scott grunted, and rolled, just barely missing being scalped. He hopped to his feet, then charged again, this time he had the mek'leth grasped in both hands. He lept up, raising the weapon above his head, and came down with a downward arc. His mek'leth came in contact with the bat'leth, and he snarled, spittle flying from his lips.

The large, hulking Klingon easily deflected the puny human's attempt, and Scott found himself flat on his back now. He hit the holographic jungle floor hard, which knocked the wind out of him. But, that didn't deter him. He wanted to prove he could hold his own, and so far he had. The bat'leth hadn't been planted in his belly... yet. The Klingon snarled for Scott to get back onto his feet, Scott snarled back. A slow smirk rose on his lips as he stood slowly, the mek'leth ready. Again, another grunt followed as he ran forward, ducking, and catching the Klingon with the mek'leth across his kneecap.

The Klingon cried out in pain, and brought down his bat'leth and caught the young linguist on the shoulder. Scott cried out (it felt real), but brought his mek'leth up and charged again.

Kris had been watching Scott and the others closely. When he saw Scott getting caught in the shoulder, the Captain felt a flare of anger. He wanted to take care of the holographic Klingon, but he fought back his impulses and urges. Come on Fishsticks thought Kris encouraging the man in silence.

James leaned on a near by tree with a slight scowl on his face. He knew the captain by reputation only. He had a unorthodox approach to most situations and most the time it worked out well for him. But when it didn't work out it tended to be a disaster. The lose of James' son was a prim example.

"Are you sure bringing the green team to Talos is the wise move Kerouac?" He asked watching Seras literally lose it. At least Fisher was able to score a lucky shot, but it was clear that it was a very lucky shot on a very subdued imitation of the real thing.

"I'm starting to doubt him myself," Jhu muttered under her breath. If this was what they had to work with, they had a lot of training to do in order to get any members of the team ready to fight Klingons. For a moment, she contemplated getting into the fray and showing them how a fight was won, but that wasn't why she was here. Teachers didn't run in and start showing off.

Kris shot a very serious glare at the two. "I don't always make the wisest decisions, Admiral, but I make the decisions others won't make, but should" countered Kris. "I have full faith in the 'green team'" added Kris.

Seras was not weak, nor was she green by any stretch of the imagination, but what she was was caught up in the fears that haunted her. She had been been cleared to return to duty, but she had not been cleared for combat situations for this very reason. Her volunteering for this mission was about the most brainless thing she could do, but it came from a good place; after seeing Jhu and Nathan together in Jhu's dream, she just wanted to help make that a reality, and having once been a prisoner of war, she wanted to do everything she could to free the captive Nathan. But she wasn't ready for all this, she still could not bear to be touched.

As she continued to fight with the Klingon she was struggling with, Seras was losing touch with reality, her mind taking her back to the Cardassians; all she could see were Cardassians, even when she looked at her crewmates. Finally, she just lost it; she doubled over as if in pain, holding the sides of her head as she cried out, releasing every pain and fear in her mind and forcing it into the minds around her. It did nothing to stop the holographic warriors around them, but for a split second, her mind was calm and quiet just before it all came rushing back in to her. But the brief reprieve was enough for her to focus on defeating her enemy, her blade finding it's way through the warrior's armor and into his chest. When her opponent fell, she simply stood still, her hands shaking as she stared at the body.

Atom was rather proud of himself. He had run into the fray and taken on an opponent twice his size and managed not to let the Klingon hit him once. He was pretty good at this dodging and weaving thing. The only problem was that he wasn't making any progress to actually engage the holographic warrior. They seemed to be more at a stalemate. He would dodge the heavy blows and roll away and around and back into combat, not missing a beat, but he was not able to raise his weapons to kill his combatant. They stayed firmly in his paws. He wasn't sure if the problem was himself and that he was just unwilling to raise the weapons or if maybe he just hadn't gotten the right chance to make his move. He was working on looking for that very opening when something went horribly wrong. The pain that shot through his skull was unlike anything he'd ever felt. He reeled, the Klingon warrior pressing on him hard as he struggled to remain in control. He raised his weapons, but only in the attempt to keep the hologram from taking his head off, while images passed quickly in front of his eyes, of what he had no idea.

He was winded now, but Scott continued his assault on the holographic Klingon. Okay, sure it didn't do much good, but at least he had the pleasure of holding his own against the hulking, ridged forehead alien. Then just as he was about to take another swing; he felt like his brain was being split in two. He closed his eyes tight, and cried out, though his ears didn't register the scream. He felt like every muscle in his body went slack at once, and the Mek'leth fell from his hands. Thousands of images seemed to flash across his mind, but he couldn't make any sense of it.

Scott could feel the beats of his heart quicken, his pulse was racing, his mind whirling, his breathing was hard. Not able to support his weight anymore, he collapsed to his knees.

The wave of crippling pain shot through Kris' body, radiating and pulsating. Most of the pain and pressure was felt in his head as he dropped to his knees in agony, having no idea what was happening. However, he could see that he was not alone in feeling the pain.

"Freeze program!" he shouted, his heart racing. He looked around and saw Seras... he knew she could do things but the full extent of what she could do was not in his everyday knowledge. Is she doing this? he thought to himself as he tried to fight through the sharp pain.

Scott blinked several times, the pain was still sharp but had dulled drastically. He heard the words 'freeze program' but couldn't exactly register who said it. His eyes then went wide, his stomach lurched... "Oh no!" He fell forward, his hands now supporting his weight; he heaved then lost his lunch.

Kris staggered as if suffering from the rocking motion of an old sea ship or after one of his many of drunken nights not so long ago. He nearly fell over himself, but he had managed to keep his footing somewhat solid as he headed over towards Scott, kneeling beside the linguist and placing a hand on the young man's back. "It's okay, Lieutenant. Take it easy," added Kris.

Scott nodded slowly, but kept his head down for a moment. His stomach was doing flips, he swallowed hard, and drew his arm over his mouth. He turned his head to see that the captain was kneeling next to him. He managed the smallish of smiles. "My, that was embarrassing." He cleared his throat, and winced at feeling the rawness of it. "What happened?"

"Nothing you did, Fish." It wasn't his full name, but Jhu was still reeling slightly from the impact. It hadn't hit her as hard as it had Scott or Kris, mostly a flash of intense pain followed by the same lingering dizziness she often felt after having a migraine. She looked over at Seras, knowing that such a widespread wallop of whatever that was could only have come from the Cairn woman. And yet, no one had gone to see if Seras was all right. Since Kris was busy with Scott, Jhu set her weapon down on the ground and gingerly approached Seras instead, gently touching the other woman's shoulder. "You pack a hell of a punch."

James had blacked out for a moment. When he came to he found himself laying on the ground with the worst headache he had ever felt. "ugh... I feel like I have been drinking with Klingons. What the hell was that?"

Seras flinched away from Jhu's touch. "Don't touch me," she said in a sharp tone and a dangerous glare in her eyes. But then it was like she suddenly remembered where she was, when she was, and she blinked in surprise. "Oh, I am so sorry, Commander!" She was now acutely aware of what she had done, and she was appalled that she had hurt the people around. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to lose it like that, I... just don't like being touched... I'm so sorry I hurt all of you!" And just like that, she was back to being the sweet and caring woman she had always been, where just the very idea of violence disgusted her.

Back to his feet Kris looked around the holodeck and saw one of his officers was still down from the affects of Seras' 'burst'. Captain Kerouac headed over to the young woman who had collapsed and was unresponsive. Kneeling beside her he checked her pulse. She was alive, but definitely stunned.

He could also see some blood trickling from her nose. Damn it he thought as he checked over the young security officer he had assigned them for their Klingon cruise. Kris tapped his Comm badge "Captain to Sickbay. I have an unconscious officer with a nose bleed... lock onto Ensign Gravano's signal and transport her to Sickbay," he ordered.

In a matter of seconds the woman was gone, and Kris returned his focus to the others. He was near his Caitian helmsmen, and placed a comforting hand on the Caitian's shoulder. "It's not your fault, Lieutenant Seras," said Kris comfortingly.

Atom staggered to his feet and rubbed at his temples, only vaguely aware of what was going on around him. He could hear the words, but they weren't making a lot of sense at the moment. The comforting hand of the Captain brought him back into focus. His ears were flat against his head and his tail was no longer swishing behind him. He felt like he'd just come off a three day bender. He patted Kris back, in an attempt to let him know that he was alright.

"You were pushed into a mock combat scenario. They cleared you for duty, but not for combat. Evidently, there is a clear reason for that and we all have just felt it," added Kerouac still trying to clear his mind. "Next time, I'll do us all a favor and listen to the doctors and counselors when they try to give me sound medical advice."

Kris looked at the frozen Klingons and shook his head. "I think we all need some time to get our heads checked out or at least recover from your little surprise, Seras," said Kris with a smile. "Computer, end program."

"I want everyone to get a good night's sleep. We'll board the Klingon vessel at 0700," instructed Kris.

Seras hesitated for a moment before speaking up again. "She'll be alright," she said timidly. "The one you sent to Sickbay, she'll be alright. All of you will. This has happened before, and bad enough it put people into comas, but there was never any lasting damage..." Not that she was incapable of causing lasting damage, she knew for a fact that she was, but in this instance, she knew they would all be okay. "I'm still sorry I lost control, sir."

Atom blinked at the Captain, sort of ignoring Seras' apology for the moment, he had more pressing things on his mind. "Tomorrow, sir? I hardly feel ready to take on a Klingon... I'm not much of a fighter, sir. I know it's my own fault, but tomorrow?"

Scott slowly got to his feet, his mind still felt a little muddled but as long as it cleared he would be okay. He looked to the lieutenant who was named Seras and offered a reassuring smile. Now that he knew what was going on; he readily accepted her apology.

Kris nodded. "Klingons, Ensign" said Kris with a smirk. "They do not stay docked anywhere for too long. I have been fortunate enough to have them wait this long. They are eager to get going and ride into battle" added Kris. "I didn't have the heart to tell them the biggest battle we will have is avoiding asteroid belts."

Atom groaned. This was going to be a long and difficult road. Hopefully, they would find Nathan without having to fight Klingons. He was pretty sure that if he had to fight Klingons to rescue anyone, then they were all doomed.

The Vor'cha class cruiser, IKS Shira had taken aboard several starfleet officers, including an Admiral. All part of an 'exchange' program for 'cultural studies' as Kris had so deviously orchestrated in order to carry out this little operation without Starfleet Command or the Federation interfering and throwing a wrench into the mix.

To say the past few days were eventful was an understatement. The Klingons aboard were brutish, vulgar, and made the ship smell like wet targ. The food was okay, but not the greatest. Kris could stomach most Klingon food, but he had brought aboard a small Federation replicator to make some more digestible food for Fisher and the others. Though some seemed to be fine eating the Klingon dishes.

There was no way Kris was going to let a pregnant Jhu and the young officers carry out this rescue mission without him. If something happened to the young officers, Kris would have suffered a serious break down. He knew the dangers they were all facing, but the biggest danger of all was a pregnant Jhu looking to get her man back.

Fearing the Klingons may decide to abandon them on Talos IV, Kris left Admiral Tonkin to hold down the fort. Though Kris was sure the man wanted to be down on Talos IV, there was no way Kris was going to be responsible for the injury or death of an Admiral.

Klingon transporter technology was different, and the effects of it were definitely felt by Kris as he and the others soon rematerialized on the surface of Talos IV. "Stay alert and stay together. No body wonders off without permission," said Kris quite sternly.

"Technology can be easily manipulated by the Talosians and much as your own mental perceptions. Be vigilant," he added scanning the area around them with his eyes. "What looks like solid ground could be an illusions," he added.

"I do not sense anything yet, Captain," Seras said to Kris as she looked around. She was glad to be off that klingon ship, if even for a little while. She had spent most of the trip on the verge of a panic attack, hiding away in her bunk to stay away from the rough and rowdy crew. Their team were mindful of her phobia, but Klingons had no such cares and would get rough simply for the sake of it, so Seras had been too terrified to leave her cramped cube of safety even for meals, and now being planetside with fresh air was a welcomed balm for the traumatized Operations Officer.

"Remember to stay away from cliffs," Scott mumbled to himself. He had his tricorder out, and opened but he hadn't paid much attention to it yet. The device was recording, and would beep if something of significance was scanned. Don't wander off, don't wander off... he reminded himself.

Atom took up the last position, following his teammates cautiously and lifting and setting his feet down carefully. He was very much into watching what was behind them. For some reason he was almost certain that if something were going to attack them it would sneak up from behind. The voyage here had not been an easy one, but he could now say that he sort of liked Klingon food and they had taught him some words that Starfleet Academy had not covered in Conversational Klingon. His ears swiveled wildly around, trying to catch every sound and his tail bounced with his caution. He tried to keep his nose pointed into the wind to hopefully catch any unusual smells. The bad part was that he had never been to this planet, so unusual smells were sort of everything at the moment.

Somewhere on Talos IV

Nathan paced back and forth in his room. It had been a long while since he had contacted Jhu. He had been caught. After the last time when an unknown crew member helped Jhu bridge the gap that had been formed, they had been caught.

Now Nathan had a guard all the time. He was still being trained in his mental skills and was finding it easy to see through the illusions the Talosins cast. To be honest, Nathan was shocked by how barren the planet actually was.

Days were not typical on this planet, so Nathan was not exactly sure how long he had been down here. But he was worried sick that he would miss the birth of his daughter. With no word from Jhu or her friend, all Nathan could do was assume that there was a rescue mission to extract him, but as the days dragged on he found himself losing hope.

“Your mental state is troubled.” The small female Talosian who had been caring for Nathan asked as she brought a bowl of what passed for food on this planet.

“Yeah well, I am not happy being held prisoner,” Nathan said as he took the bowl.

“Are we not caring for you well?” The girl asked with a troubled look on her face.

“That’s not the point,” Nathan said setting the bowl down on a table in his room. He had been cared for very well, had been treated with respect and general concern for his well-being. But a gilded cage was still a cage. “I have a family you have taken me from. My daughter will be born very soon if she has not already and friends who are worried about me. Staying here is not what I want, regardless of how kind you have been to me.” Nathan sighed in frustration and sat down on his bed. They had been through this almost every day he had been there.

“The more troubled your mind is the harder it is for you to learn.” The woman said kindly with a small thin lipped smile. “You are extremely mentally disciplined, your ability to learn…”

She was interrupted by Nathan exploding off the bed and flinging the bowl of food across the room “I DON’T WANT TO LEARN FROM YOU!” he roared at the tiny Talosian. Nathan didn’t often lose his temper, so when he did it was like a volcano erupting. The only thing that calmed him was the lack of reaction from the woman.

“I will leave you to calm yourself.” She said as she turned and quickly left.

Nathan fell heavy back onto his bed with a huff. This was almost worse than being tortured by Section 31.

Away Team

As Kris and the others pressed onward, the Captain was beginning to have doubt set in. Everywhere he looked, he could not recall ever seeing any of it on his last Talos IV visit. However, one minute the away team would be walking through what appeared to be a desert, only to then end up in a wooded area.

"The illusion games have begun by the looks of things," commented Kris. As they 'exited' the wooded, area they arrived back into a desert looking area. He looked ahead and saw a somewhat rocky cliff.

Scurrying ahead slightly, he turned back towards Jhu. "That looks rather familiar," he said to her.

"It's the same illusion from before." Jhu gestured at the edges of it, where she could just barely see the sparkles that Nathan had told her about. "The drop is really only about ten feet. It would hurt, but it's not deadly. Either way, watch your step."

Atom sighed and stopped for a moment. This back and forth environment thing was making him feel more like they had landed in some strange holodeck that just kept looping around. He checked his tricorder and then double checked it. Nothing seemed strange except that he was starting to feel like they were running around in circles. He kept his ears on swivel, listening for anything unusual.

The tricorder Scott held beeped, then stopped, then beeped again. His blues eyes darted down, took in what he saw, then promptly lifted back up. "Wow... just wow," he said just above a mumble. Besides the possibility of the land shifting to them falling off a cliff; Scott had been pretty in awe of all of this. Sure, it was disconcerting at first, and he certainly felt like they were getting turned around, but overall he found it fascinating. He looked to the Caitian who he dubbed 'Ensign Cat' in his mind, then shifted his gaze to the captain and the pregnant commander. He opened his mouth to say something then promptly shut it.

"We are not in a forest," Seras said as she squinted at her surroundings. At first, it had appeared to be like a desert and then a forest, but seeing everything change around them, it was like suddenly she could see the seams in the illusions, and if she focused on them then she could see through the illusions altogether. Surprisingly, the desert they had landed in was not a desert at all, but rather rocky terrain that did lead up to some cliffs. She still could not detect the minds creating these illusions but she closed her eyes to focus on finding them. If she could find them, she could end the illusion...

Kris scoffed. "Where we are is an ever changing illusion" commented Kris shaking his head. "Though if they had wanted us dead, we probably would have walked off the edge of a cliff or into the a volcano by now" he added.

"It is like they anticipated our arrival" Observed Kris. "Jhu, Seras, are either of you feeling anything from Nathan?" asked the Captain.

"Not yet, but he hasn't been in touch for a while." Jhu was nowhere near as powerful a telepath as Seras, but she'd found Nathan before. She'd been asleep at the time, but if she could do it in her sleep, it made sense that she could do it while awake as well. Very carefully, she broke down the barriers that years of work with Section 31 had taught her to build. Though she couldn't actually actively search the area, she could at least look for contact that felt familiar... if the Talosians didn't get to her first.

"I can feel them," Seras said, her eyes still closed as she searched the area for where exactly the Talosians were. And they were keenly aware of her, attempting to keep her probing at bay with false senses, but her mind was much faster than theirs and she was able to keep up with them. "They are tricky, but I think they know they are no match for me..."

Kris looked at Fisher "Scott, keep a tricorder running. Scan for any sign of human life other than ourselves. If the Talosians do want us to find Nathan, we might be able to get a reading on him eventually."

What had been ironic was that he had been keeping his tricorder running, though the scanning device was having a hard time scanning. Scott met the captain's gaze, and smiled. "Aye aye," he said. However, he did wish everyone would stop talking about walking off cliffs.

Somewhere on Talos IV

Nathan had drifted off to sleep, but was startled awake when 3 Talosians rushed into his room.

“Please wake Nathan.” One of the said in an urgent voice.

“Wha?” Nathan said sitting up on his bed. He had been dreaming that Jhu and Kris had come to rescue him. He rubbed his eyes and looked at the gathered group. “What’s going on?”

“Our planet is under attack. The race you call Borg have landed here and are attempting to; as they say it, assimilate us. Our mental illusions are powerless against them. We need your help.

Nathan shot from his bed to his feet. If the Borg assimilated the Talosians… “Where are they? I will need a weapon, something very sharp and hand held. They adapt to energy style weapons easily.”

It crossed Nathans mind in the moment that he was about to sacrifice himself to save his captors, but hopefully he could stop the Borg from adding anyone from Talos to their ranks. “Sorry Jhu…” He whispered as the group lead him from his room.

“I believe you call this a sword?” One of the Talosians said as they handed Nathan a blade. It was not weighted well, but it was not unwieldy.

“Yes” Nathan said as he looked over the blade stoically. “Take me to where they are.”

Away Team

Seras could feel a shift in the minds of the Talosians she had isolated, but she had no idea what it meant. Her eyes opened as she sought out Kris. "Captain, something's happening. I cannot tell what they have planned, but they feel very confident in their plan," Seras said.

How were they supposed to find Nathan if they kept going around in circles? Atom raised his tricorder again and tried checking the whole area around them. There was nothing, nothing to give them any clues as to whether they were even going the right direction. He sincerely hoped that his fellow team members somehow had more information then he did. Atom had to readily admit that he currently felt pretty useless.

Kris looked over at the Caitian and smiled. "You are doing fine, Ensign. I know how you must be feeling. I feel the same way myself... helpless and unable to do anything," commented Kris. It was how he felt when he believed he had lost Nathan as well.

Atom nodded. "Sorry, sir. It's very confusing here. Nothing is really what it seems. I didn't mean to get morale down though." He wished he had done more exploring as a kit. Maybe he might be more comfortable in the situation if he was more fearless of the unknown. He smiled a little, more for Kris then himself. The situation was what it was though and no regret would fix moving forward.

Scott fought the urge to start whistling. It was a habit that he did when things were tense, or he was worried, or he just was plain bored. In this case, it was all three. He knew things were tense, he worried about walking over a cliff or into a volcano, and there was a part of him that was bored for not finding something. Though, the changing of environments was pretty fascinating. So instead, with his free hand, he began to touch thumb to each finger, counting in his head as he did so. As the repetition quickened, so did the counting.

Tricorders were suddenly going off and Kris' eyes shot upward at a low hanging dark mass that looked like a cloud at first. It was black, darkly black and moving quickly towards the away team.

"What the hell" he said as he drew his phaser. Soon the cloud broke form and it was evident that it was not a cloud, but rather large avian creatures with great wing spans. They looked prehistoric and reminded Kris of Pterodactyls of ancient earth yet quite alien looking.

Razer sharp talons hung attached to long boned legs that dangled. The creatures flew fast and could easily swoop and snatch up the away team. Kris pointed to what looked to be an opening in the center of a rock face, a cave perhaps. "In there, now!" he shouted at he fired upwards at the creatures.

He gave Scott a push towards the cave. "Take cover," he ordered Scott, and motioned for the Seras and Atom to go as well. Kris knew better than to order Jhu to do anything she didn't want to do.

When his tricorder started the incessant beeping, Scott looked down in confusion. Something was happening, something big, and just as he was about to open his mouth, he saw it. Something dark, and insidious was forming. It was Avian and nature; he stared, wide eyed, mouth agape. He then felt himself being pushed, which snapped out of his reverie. "You don't have to tell me twice," he said softly as he moved toward the cave, almost tripping as he did so.

Seras ran with Kris and Scott, not paying too much attention to her surroundings and trusting that they were truly headed for a safe haven. Her attention was focused elsewhere, trying to isolate the minds behind the illusions. She almost had one of them, if she could break their concentration to cause distortions to the illusions, then she could being it down! But it was hard to concentrate with that thing attacking them!

Atom bolted for the cave and was in the mouth of it before he turned and tried to fire, ears back and hissing. The fur on his tail bristled. His eyesight was good, but he still had a hard time pinpointing exactly what he was supposed to be shooting at. It was almost as if the fear was the pursuer itself. He took a chance and fired his phaser, but if it connected with his target it didn't seem to do any good.

Kris tried to shoot down some of the creatures, but the stun setting was not doing the trick. Increasing to heavy stun only seemed to agitate them further. Kris grabbed Jhu's hand and pulled her "We're not winning this battle," he said to her.

"Probably because they aren't real," Jhu muttered, trying and failing to take one of the strange flying creatures down even as Kris dragged her into the cave he'd found. As they reached it, she tumbled backward, coming down hard on her shoulder. The ground certainly wasn't an illusion; that had hurt! Her teeth clenched, she regained her footing with markedly more fluidity and grace than one might expect from a woman who was eight months pregnant. "I swear to everything holy if we survive this planet..."

It was then, right as Seras entered the mouth of the cave that Nathan stepped out from the shadows and shoved his blade to the hilt into her chest. "Resistance is futile." He snarled as he turned his gaze to the rest of the away team.

Seras' mouth opened with a silent gasp, her face frozen in shock and surprise as the blade was sheathed in her chest. Time seemed to stand still, she didn't even feel the searing pain of the blade as it cut through her. She looked up at Nathan, and she recognized it was him, not just from his features but from his sense of presence. 'Why...' She could feel herself falling, but as she hit the ground, the blade in his hand began to flicker. It wasn't real! Oh, but damn, her wound sure felt real! These illusions weren't messing around! But as she lay on the ground, trying to shake the pain of the illusionary wounds dealt to her, she could see something in the cave, someone else not on their team... 'Gotcha!' She found the mind and sent out a mental burst, like what had happened in the holodeck, but much much stronger and directed at the Talosian she had found, and as the individual fell victim to Seras' attack, the illusion around them began to fracture...

The joy that bubbled up when she saw Nathan suddenly appear boiled over to rage as he stabbed Seras through the chest. Even though she saw the blade flicker ever so slightly and knew something was off about it, Jhu swapped out her Klingon disruptor for the mek'leth she'd chosen to carry on her belt and pounced on him, hoping to drive him away from the others before anyone else got hurt. Whether or not he was really Nathan, she couldn't let him kill people for the Talosians.

As Nathan tumbled backwards with Jhu on top of him, he cracked his head on the ground. It was; as Jhu found out before, not an illusion. At the same moment the mental blast hit the Talosian, shattering Nathan's own Illusion that the away team was a Borg landing party. He had been so focused on his task that Nathan never noticed the slight shine to the Borg.

But as the Illusion shattered, Nathan saw Jhu sitting atop him in Klingon armor with a mek'leth ready to strike. "Jhu?" he ask with a confused look.

As the illusions shattered around them, Jhu ever so slightly eased her grip on Nathan, though she made no attempt to get up or move the mek'leth away from his throat. A brief glance toward Seras proved that the Cairn woman was in fact alive, but that didn't mean this was really Nathan she'd knocked to the ground. "You'd better not be a Talosian spy trying to trick me because I will kill you."

"Don't!" Seras called out. She could barely move, the pain of the illusionary wound, though fading, still felt so real. "It is Nathan, don't hurt him," she rasped out, struggling to find her breath even though she wasn't really injured.

Jhu growled low in her throat. She wanted to believe Seras. No, she did believe Seras. But the last time they'd been on Talos IV, everyone had been so certain that Nathan was really dead. Now she didn't know if any of them could trust any of their senses!

"Kristina," Nathan said, not daring to move an inch.

"Fire and Ice," Jhu breathed, slowly putting the mek'leth on the ground. She hadn't told a soul about their discussion over names for their unborn daughter, hadn't wanted to explain why in the name of the universe she would name her child after the man who had gotten Nathan 'killed' on Talos IV. She doubted it was information Nathan would have given the TAlosians either. Very gingerly, she touched his face, as if she still expected another illusion to break.

Once the blade was no longer at his throat, Nathan wrapped his arms around Jhu and embraced her. He pressed his lips to hers in a long over due kiss.

Kris had heard the name. It made zero sense to him, but he was more interested in seeing the man he had once thought dead. Though Jhu was of course first in line for the kissing booth, not that the Captain had an interest in inviting himself into the love fest.

The Captain cleared his throat. "I hate to interrupt this heavy petting session, kids, but I have a Klingon battle cruiser waiting to pick us up and I am not really fond of meeting Nathan's over protective Talosian guardians" commented Kris.

"Shut up," Jhu growled at Kris as she very carefully go up and offered Nathan her hand to pull him back to his feet. He didn't need her help, bit she wanted to offer anyway.

"And I don't think they're overly fond of me since I hurt one of theirs," Seras said with a groan as she managed to push herself into an upright sitting position. "Oh, I think I'm gonna hurl," she moaned as her stomach churned. "I know it was an illusion, but thanks for stabbing me in the chest!" Seras said to Nathan, rubbing the spot where he stabbed her like it still hurt, and it did.

Jhu made a face at her. "Please don't. I've made it this far without puking, but if you start all bets are off."

Nathan took Jhu's hand and stood. He then immediately went to Seras side. "Are you ok? I'm so sorry."

"I'm just peachy- DON'T TOUCH ME!" Seras initially squeaked, then blurted out when he tried to help her up. "I'm fine, it just hurts. I think they use real memories of pain to make the illusion feel so real, so the pain is lingering, but it's getting better," she assured him, then scrambled back to her feet.

After making sure Seras was ok, he turned and walked over to Kris. With a smile, Nathan drilled his fist into the man's face. "YOU LEFT ME!"

The power of the force drove Kris to fall backwards and bump into Attom and Scott, who kept Kris from completely falling on his ass. The fist to his face had caught the Captain's nose, and definitely broke it. Some blood trickled from the busted nose and fattened lips. He would need some cosmetic help from a doctor as soon as they got back aboard, but the Klingons didn't have much in terms of a medical bay.

"WHY" Kris began as he wiped the blood from his mouth. "Why does everyone punch me in the FUCKING FACE?!" he shouted looking at Nathan and then at Jhu, both of whom had now done it to him over his course of being a Captain.

Though he was happy to see Nathan alive, Kris had been dreading this reunion. "I DIDN'T MEAN TO!" Kris shouted back at the man in response. "We thought you were dead, damn it," added the Captain. "Get over it," finished Kris.

Nathan grabbed Kris and pulled him into a hug. "Thank you for coming back for me, Kris."

"We do not leave Family behind," replied Kris, accepting the man's hug and holding Nathan in a strong embrace. Kris felt the man's strength. "Have you been working out?" jested the Captain.

"Really? We're here on a world of illusionists who want to kill us and you're feeling him up?" Seras said. "Can we please just go home, please?" she practically begged. Home, where she could spend a week in the shower washing off the smell 'hygiene optional' Klingons and hide under her bed so people won't be tempted to touch her anymore.

"I'm with Seras on this one." As happy as she was to see Nathan again and as much as she wanted to drag him off to some faraway corner, Jhu really hated this infernal planet. The sooner they were off it the better. "My back hurts and this Klingon monstrosity is the most uncomfortable thing ever invented."

Seras made Kris feel immediately uncomfortable and let go of Nathan. He directed his attention at Seras and spoke without thinking. It was just a natural retort. "I am not feeling him up, Seras. I have feelings for Fisher," admitted the Captain, more openly than he had ever intended.

Scott's eyebrows shot up in surprise at the admission. "Wait What?" He pointed to himself, as if he didn't believe what he was hearing. "Me?" He honestly thought he heard wrong, things were happening so fast. Nathan whoever was thought they were Borg, then he snapped out of it, Seras was stabbed but wasn't... so Scott knew there was a high probability that he heard wrong. When his gaze met the captain's though, it confirmed that the captain was serious. "Oh." He stood there a moment, then a smile formed. "I like you tool"

Feeling himself blush, Kris nervously turned away from Scott. "I believe Maica would say that Klingon monstrosity really brings out your breasts," he added with a smile, trying to make light of the awkwardness.

"I'm sure she would," Jhu replied dryly, retrieving her mek'leth from the ground and somehow managing not to fall over despite the combined weight of her unborn daughter and the heavy Klingon armor. Tucking the weapon back into place, she used the motion to disguise rubbing her sore back for a moment. "Can we please stop talking about everyone's love interests and get back to the bird of prey? I don't feel good and I want to get off this planet."

Nathan was right back next to Jhu, his left arm slid around her waist but his right hand laid on her bulging stomach. "Get me the hell outta here." He said to Jhu. "Yet again, you saved me. I love you. Thank you."

The Captain looked at the Caitian helmsmen. "Ensign, use those Caitian sense to pick up our scent. We no doubt left a trail from whence we came. Lead the way and get us back to where we transported down" ordered Kris.

Atom grinned toothily. "Yes, sir!" he said with gusto. He lifted his short snout into the air and breathed deeply for several moments, his ears and tail twitching, almost the movement you would expect from a housecat getting ready to pounce on something exciting. Then he lowered his nose and pointed. "Back this way, sir..." And started to lead the way.

After sometime tracing their way back thanks to the help of their ship's helmsmen and navigator using his unique 'gift' as a Caitian, the Captain and the away team arrived at the designated location.

Kris pulled out the Klingon communicator from the holster around his battle armor. =\/= "ngaQ lulegh maHvaD 'ej maHvaD Qolta'DI' woDDI' DaH!" shouted Kris in a gruff voice. Soon they all were encompassed by the Klingon transporter and left Talos IV behind.

Captain Kerouac had just spent the past few hours having a rather interesting discussion with Nathan and catching up on old times. There was a lot to make up for and even more to fill Nathan in on. Mostly why he was left behind, Kris' time spent in prison, and that Kerouac no longer commanded the USS Katana, but rather commanded a new starship, the Camelot. After which, Kris returned to the Klingon Medical Bay to have his nose fixed. At least to the best of the Klingon physician's abilities.

It was late when Kris finally managed to return to his bunk for the evening. He was happy to be out of the heavy Klingon battle armor and be dressed casually in a simple red tee and some black slacks. His stomach was growling from lack of eating anything substantial in the past several hours. As he entered his bunk, he noticed that the lights were still on and his bunk mate was still awake.

"My face has been fixed...for the most part" announced Kris as he saw Scott standing over by a small observation area of the small bunk. The Captain proceeded into the quarters and approached the man. Looking at their bunk style beds, Kris saw both were still made. Scott had clearly not gone to bed yet.

Though Scott Fisher had been fascinated by Talos IV, he was certainly glad to be back on the Klingon vessel. Which definitely said a lot! He had ditched the armor - which was awesome but heavy to wear - and changed into clothing that was far more comfortable. Which said clothing consisted of a pair of plaid white and blue flannel pajama pants, and a for a top, a white long sleeve tee.

He stood at the small observation port lost in thought. Scott had replayed what happened on Talos IV over and over in his head; specifically what the captain had confessed. It wasn't something he had ever thought about. He never even noticed if people liked him. "That's good," Scott said as he looked to Kris and smirked., "you have a reputation to uphold as Captain Good-Looking."

Kris let out a small sigh of relief seeing the blackness of space as they passed by stars on a heading away from Talos IV. I will be happy to never set foot on that planet so long as I live he thought to himself. "So, top or bottom, tonight?" he asked Scott.

Realizing his poor word choice almost immediately, Kris winced and quickly motioned towards the bed. "The Bunks!" shouted Kris. He looked at Lieutenant Fisher and blushed slightly. "Do you want the top bunk or bottom bunk, tonight?" asked Kris more carefully this time.

Scott chortled, how could he not. "I knew what you meant," he said as he pushed away from the bulkhead. "Why decide, we can share a bunk." He waggled his eyebrows, but smiled a broad smile. "I mean you're thin, I'm thin, and these Klingons are massive, I mean I'm sure we could fit. Unless you are a blanket hog, then I am O U T!" He crossed his arms over his chest, then let them fall back down to his sides.

"Can I call you Kris now? I mean, I always sorta felt I should be good about that and call you Captain or sir, but now things have changed and I just think I could call you Kris and you can still call me Fish Stick." The broad smile fell to something of a bit of a shy one. His cheeks warmed.

"I like it when you call me Fish Stick."

Damn you thought Kris as he felt a ferocious warmth take over his body. His face was warm, his ears had to be beat red as he got quite nervous with the man's suggestion. "I don't hog the blanket" he answered simply. It was all that he could manage for that suggestion and line of questioning.

Kris smiled back and looked around the room. He playfully reached up towards the collar of his shirt. "Hmm doesn't feel like a uniform and I've seemingly forgotten my rank pips. I must be off duty...so, I don't see why you cannot call me Kris" replied the Captain.

"The others...Jhu, Nathan, Jenni....they've served with me for a while. I run my starship like a family, and they have become my closest friends. I do not mind people calling me Kris. Just don't make a habit of it when I'm around admiralty" added the Captain.

"I hope I never have to be around the admiralty," Scott said, shaking his head. "They make me nervous." He shuddered as if a piece of ice slipped down his spine. "You look nervous, I never thought I would make someone nervous. I am normally the quiet type, nose in a book or whatever I guess. You know sometimes I felt like the world just passed me by, which I think could be a bit sad."

Scott closed his mouth, he was going on and on, the words were pouring out like the proverbial verbal diarrhea. Which of course sounded disgusting. Good thing I kept that to myself, he thought to himself. "Do you really have feelings for me?" he blurted out. "I... I mean..." the stutter was starting, and he closed his eyes a moment to get his thoughts together. "I probably shouldn't have said I liked you too. Especially in front of everyone, they probably think I'm an idiot. Or a nutcase, which maybe I am. Ugh..."

He moved to the bottom bunk, and plopped down. He buried his face in his hands.

Kris let out a heavy sigh and sat down beside the young lieutenant. "If they think anyone is a nutcase, Fish Sticks, It is me" confessed Kris. "The adventures some of the crew have had under my command...the places we've been, things we've done, and protocols I have knowing violated. There's reason for their concerns of my sanity" added Kris.

The Captain rested his hand upon the science officer's shoulders. "I meant what I said back there on Talos IV. You have nothing to be embarrassed about and saying what you said was fine. More than fine. It let's me know that I am not so crazy for feeling the way that I do" offered Kris.

"My romantic history is not the smoothest road" the Captain confessed gently. "I was engaged once...well, twice. I fell in love while I was at Starfleet Academy and eventually he asked me to marry him when we were both officers. It was during the war and before we could be wed, his starship went missing" said explained Kris.

At least you've had a romantic history, even if it was not a smooth one, Scott thought to himself. Upon the captain's touch, he had lifted his head from his hands. "I'm sorry to hear that," he said, which by the tone of his voice, that he meant every word.

"You know Captain Merith? Well, then, you've met my second fiance" added Kris with a small laugh. "That's a long story, but I left her at the alter...fortunately we've managed to still be friends."

If only it ended there he thought. "The last stop on this train wreck was several months ago. We were never engaged, but I was dating the Chief Medical Officer of my previous command. After I went to prison, he broke off all communication with me."

"Well that is his loss," Scott said firmly. He had no idea who Captain Merith was, to him it was just a name that he had heard floating around in the corridor on the way to the holodeck where he fought holographic Klingons. "Well, I have nothing to report in the romance history department, unless you want a history of love, romance, and all that good stuff. That I could give you, but it is just love poems, and sonnets, and Shakespeare and Byron, and Valentines day, and chocolates, and roses, and greeting cards, and..." A nervous laugh escaped him.

"I'm not... I guess... I mean... ah frack!" In a bold, but slightly clumsy move, Scott leaned in and pressed his lips against Kris'.

Kris had about opened his mouth to offer some words of support, but found himself having Scott's lips pressed against his own. Woah was Kris' simple thought as he kissed back for a few lovely moments.

"Scott" said Kris in a deep breathy voice. "I'm.." Kris struggled with his thoughts and what to say. "You're eight years younger than me" offered Kris with a report of the mathematical data. "I...I'm not saying no. I'm just saying I don't want to hurt you" added Kris.

Scott hadn't really thought about the age difference, mostly he was still thinking about the kiss. That kiss! WOWEE! Anyway, to him, eight years wasn't huge by any means, but he also understood the captain's concerns. At least, he thought he understood, honestly he wasn't sure. In his mind, age was just some number that changed each year. "It's fine, and you won't," Scott assured. "I'm not some young cadet, I know I have a long way to go in some areas, but I am a pretty smart guy in others. I know what I'm getting into." Not totally confident in that though, he told himself.

Looking into the lieutenant's eyes, Kris smiled. "If we both are fine with this...that's fine. But let me do this properly. Will you go out on a date with me, Fish Sticks?" asked the Captain softly as he ran his fingers through Scott's hair.

Definitely like the fingers through the hair thing, Scott mused to himself. He almost giggled... almost. Keep it together Fish, keep it together. He nodded first, a bit fast, then slowed. "I'd like that," he said in a tone matching Kris'.

Kris moved his head closer towards Scott's and proceeded to kiss gently the man's neck. Kissing the collar bone of the young linguist. "I like you too" the Captain said.

"I am fine with sharing this bunk tonight, but let's not rush into anything. We're adults. We can control ourselves" Kris said. He was fairly convinced he could. "You deserve a nice night at a theater and dinners together. Get to know me and I'll get to know you" added Kris.

Okay, I can totally get into this kissing thing, again Scott thought to himself. Again he almost giggled, but held it back. He needed, after all, to be mature about this. Right? He wasn't about to say he was just kidding about the bunks, he had never shared a bed with anyone before, and now he was curious. He nodded to everything the captain said. "Sounds really nice." And it did.

Then the unexpected happened - he yawned. Damn! It had been a long day, not to mention an odd one. He was glad that Nathan whoever was okay and that Ensign Cat and Lieutenant Seras were okay too. He was doubly glad pregnant commander didn't give birth right there in the cave. However, what he was most glad for was sharing that moment in the cave with Kris, and this moment too. "Mind if we turn in?"

Kris playfully pushed Lieutenant Fisher down onto the bed, laying him on his side. "Not at all" whispered Kris softly. "It's been a long day, Scott" said Kris as he lie beside Fisher, draping his arm over the linguist.

Kris kissed the back of Scott's neck, before telling the ship to turn off the lights.

The young officer at tactical nearly pissed herself when her console's sensor reading went from picking up absolutely zero ship activity in the area to immediately alerting her to a starship ahead. She immediately signaled for a yellow alert without asking. “Starship dead ahead!” she shouted.

“Full stop!” ordered, the officer on watch. Helm quickly obeyed. Turning towards the tactical Officer, the man looked at her with scrutiny. “How did we miss a starship, ensign?”

The woman looked absolutely frazzled. “I-I uh I am waiting for more information. I cannot say at this time” she replied.

The officer on watch was not satisfied with that response. “Identification?” he demanded to know immediately who or what they were dealing with. And I thought filling in for Night watch would be uneventful

“Sir, she's Federation” commented the tactical officer. “USS Whisperer, registry number NCC-9709...some sort of tactical escort. And they are hailing us, seeking Captain Kerouac directly” reported the ensign.

The man let out a sigh of relief. “Cancel yellow alert, ensign and call the Captain” directed the lieutenant.

Kerouac had been fast asleep as the wee hours of the morning ticked away. He was not anticipating being woken up in the dead of night. There present mission had been relatively routine. They had picked up medical supplies and were to deliver them to a remote Federation outpost in the Beta Quadrant. However, when the constant chirping awoken him, he knew things were going to be interesting.

“Patch it through to my quarters” Kris replied to the ensign as he put on a tee shirt and headed over to his work desk. The computer console popped up from the desk and illuminated. The screen displaying the Federation logo was quickly replaced by scowling face and intense glare of a pale skinned, elderly Cardassian whom Kris knew all too well.

The Captain scoffed. “Well, I'll be damned. Admiral Krull Larkon out on a little early morning stroll” observed Kris. “What can I do for you, gramps?” teased Kris.

The Cardassian was not amused. “I no longer sit behind a desk and push papers around. Why the hell they let you out of that prison, I'll never know. I stood up for you and this is what it got me...early morning delivery boy” replied Krull. “Oh and you'll be delighted to know you don't have to Sir me. They demoted me to Captain for the antics you pulled” added the Cardassian.

Kris' eyed lit up and his smile widened. “You're enjoying it, aren't you?”

The Cardassian nodded simply. “You bet your ass I am” he replied.

“I think you gave my tactical officer a scare. Where were you hiding, you old dog” asked Kris?

The Cardassian took pleasure in this bit of information. “In a nearby nebula you passed recently. Starfleet gave me some new technology to test out. It's not quite as good as a cloak, but she helps full sensors given the right touch and a little bit of Maquis tactics” explained Krull. “Had Jhu been at tactical, she would have nailed me the moment we left the nebula” he added.

Kris nodded. “Well, she's actually in Intelligence again. And you caught us while most of us were asleep. I am assuming you knew this already and planned it as such” deduced the Captain of the Camelot.

“Of course” replied the Cardassian. “Congratulations on your successful Talos IV mission and rescuing Commander Tonkin” said the Cardassian shaking his head. “Clever of you to use the Klingons to your advantage...you pissed a lot of Admirals off with that one.”

Captain Kerouac let out a deep chuckle. “Are you here to deliver my punishment? Because, I thought delivering medical supplies was bad enough” countered Kris. “What do you have for me?”

The Cardassian cut straight to the point. “A change in plans. I'm here for the medicine...you get to haul my cargo to Sigma Iotia II” Krull stated

Kerouac rose a brow and studied his screen, looking at the Cardassian. “Sigma Iotia II? The Roaring 1920s society with mobsters?” he asked for clarification and confirmation.

“That's the one” confirmed Larkon. “I have a Ferengi politician here with a few personal guards and a Starfleet assigned security detail” explained the Cardassian Captain. “They need brought to Itotia II safely. If it sounds like a simple mission, you are greatly mistaken, Kris” added Larkon.

“Oh?” Kris responded.

Krull was clearly waving someone over. “Here, I think you should say hello to the Starfleet assigned security escort that you'll be working with” said Larkon. The Cardassian's face vanished into the background, only to be replaced with another familiar one of much shorter stature.

Oh dear God thought Kris as the image came into focus. “CAPTAIN!” shouted the shrieking voice of a very lively female Ferengi. She wore a Starfleet uniform of the Intelligence department and two solid gold Lieutenant pips decorated her collar.

Kris took in a deep breath. “Good morning, Lieutenant Noxa” he said addressing the woman. Who else were they going to send to a Ferengi controlled world as a security escort? Noxa makes perfect sense thought Kris.

Nathan felt horrible. Had he driven that blade; illusion or not, into any of the other crew members they most likely would have died. Lucky for Everyone Seras had taken the mental blow and only suffered residual pain. It was all in her head, but that did not make it any less painful.

Nathan approached the room he had been told was where she was hiding. In his Klingon armor clad hand, he carried a glass of ice water that he had replicated for the woman. He hit the door chime and waited for an answer.

There wasn't much in the way of response. Privacy was something Klingons didn't have much need or care for on their cruisers, so when he hit the chime, the door simply opened. The room was darkened and all Nathan could see was a figure moving from the bed to hide under a table. Seras hadn't slept since the incident in the holodeck, she'd been too afraid of losing control of her telepathy while in her sleep that she had been keeping herself awake until they had rescued Nathan. Now that they were on the return trip, she was making an earnest effort to get some sleep, but she was haunted by the pain in her chest from Nathan's blade, and when the door sliding open suddenly startled her awake, all she could think to do was hide!

"Uh..." Nathan said, startled by the opening door. "Sorry, sorry!" He said stepping into the room quickly so the door would shut. "Something else to apologize for." Nathan sighed heavy and crouched down to look under the table where Seras was hiding. "I brought you some water."

Her slate grey eyes peered out at him from under the table as she hugged her knees to her chest, blinking at the glass of water in his hand. Oh, that was thoughtful of him... But she said nothing, the external piece of her vocal synthesizer was sitting on top of the table she was hiding under, and she was still too rattled to come out just yet, though she did hesitantly reach for the glass and took a much needed drink.

Nathan sat back on his heels and hugged his knees also, matching her posture. "I wanted to express how very sorry I was for what I did to you. I thought you were a Borg drone." He shifted uncomfortably and tugged at the collar of the armor. "Can't believer Kris is making us wear this crap..."

Seras nodded with a meek smile in acceptance of his apology. It made sense, with a threat as dangerous as the Borg, he wouldn't have been as driven to notice or fight the illusion, so it was an acceptable reason that she was willing to forgive. As for the armor, she wasn't wearing the full get-up, she would have been drowning in the armor with as small as she was, but even still she did find it uncomfortable. and offered a silent light. Nathan's easy-going manner was calming and so she leaned back against the bulkhead as she took another sip of water.

"Do you need someone to sit watch while you sleep? clearly the doors in this place don't lock." Nathan offered. "I would be happy to."

Seras shrugged, not really caring either way. In the short time she had been on the Camelot, she had become rather accustomed to sharing a bed with Commander Brooks, so some company wouldn't be a bad thing. Although she didn't really want to take Nathan away from Jhu, so eventually she shook her head no.

"Is everything ok?" Nathan cocked his head to the side, he had heard the woman talk before. "Was your neck injured or something?"

Seras tilted her head curiously. Her neck? what did that have to do with anything? Oh! She gave a silent giggle then reached under the Klingon armor for her communicator. A finger traced a design around in a rectangular shape about the same size as the communicator, then she held it to her throat and finally she pointed above her head.

Nathan glanced above the table, not really understanding until his eyes rested on the small box that sat up there. He slowly reached for it, not wanting to move towards the woman and have her think he might touch her.

Once Nathan had the device in had, he made a point of adjusting it in his hand so Seras could easily grasp the other end without worry about accidentally brushing against Nathan. "Jhu told me about your phobia of contact. That must be hell on you."

Seras nodded with a grateful smile as she reached for the device and stuck it in her collar. "It makes things difficult. I mean, I can still get on with my duties just fine and my staff has adapted without a problem, but sometimes I want a hug so bad and I know more than enough people who would want to give me a hug, but I just can't..." she said now that her synthesizer was in place.

And now that they were out of danger, he could take notice of the fact that her voice sounded differently than it had been in the dream where they had first met. The voice in the dream had been softer with a ghostly electronic echo, but this voice now was more realistic; it was still clearly synthesized, but it had less of that 'unreal' quality as the technology advanced. It might have been insignificant to everyone else, but it was a big thing to her what her voice sounded like and she did not like the sound currently falling from her lips.

"I'm glad we were able to rescue you," Seras said to change the subject. "Everyone believed you were dead, but when Jhu asked for my help in figuring out if you were really visiting her in her dreams, how could I not help!"

"Thank you for everything you have done to help my family." Nathan said with a grateful nod. "Were it not for you verifying it was actually me I doubt anyone would have believer Jhu. We are forever in your debt."

"I was once held captive as well and the Officers I served with risked their lives to save me. There's no way I can repay that kindness and dedication, so I just wanted to pay it forward, I guess. Anyway, you'd do the same for me or anyone else if you could," Seras said softly.

"And I have." Nathan said, remembering the rescue mission to recover Andy.

"I am told you are the Operations Chief?" Nathan asked changing the subject.

"I am," Seras said with a nod.

"I could use some more help." Nathan asked. He held up his right arm. It shook almost like he had Parkinson's Disease and made an audible whine as it moved and buzzed as he held it there. "I have a mechanical arm. I am worried about it. My friend you talked to; Andrea Carter, built this for me. Typically I don't let anyone but her work on me and I intend to call her and have her come fix it. But in the meantime it would suck if it caught on fire or something. It's been damaged for months now. Judging by how far along Jhu is I would say about 8 months now."

"You've been living with a broken prosthetic for that long?" Seras said, aghast at the idea. She scooted forward so she could get a better look at the arm, reaching above her and feeling about the edge of the table for her toolkit. Once she found it, she set it in her lap and found her tricorder to begin some scans. "Petty Officer Carter said she would catch the first transport off of Earth when I told her about you contacting Jhu, so she might be on the Camelot by the time we return," Seras said as she scanned. "Which might work out for the best, I don't know if I can fix this. It's a design I've never encountered before and... parts I've never seen before. This is amazing work..."

"Yeah, its from another dimension or timeline or something. I am not very clear what happened to Katana when we tried the Brog warp thing." Nathan shrugged. "But my sis is a genius for sure."

"Yes, mention of Katana's transwarp travel has come up before," Seras said with a nod as she continued to assess the damage. Then she looked up at him. "Wait, sis? you mean sister? But is it not human custom for you to share a name? A, uh... surname?"

Nathan chuckled. "Not by blood. But my sister none the less."

"Ah," Seras said with a nod, but she still looked a little confused. No matter, she didn't need to know the details to work on his arm. "Well, I think I can stop the noises and the jittering, but your 'sister' really should be the one to do the maintenance on it," she continued as she pulled out some tools. "Just hold still if you can..." she said as she found the seam in the synthetic skin and opened up the arm.

Nathan could not help but smile as she willingly reached out and touched him. He didn't say anything and held as still as he could. The techie types were all the same, get them lost in there work and they forget all fears and trepidations. "How long you been in Starfleet?" he asked trying to keep up idle conversation.

"Ummm..." Seras hummed thoughtfully. "Chronologically, I graduated the Academy 9 years ago, but after the incident with my captivity, I returned home for 4 years, so I've only spent 5 years in service." She paused for a moment to concentrate on adjusting one of the parts in his arm, then continued. "Violence is an unknown thing in my culture, so what happened to me was... hard for me to understand let alone process. And afterwards, I was hurting people... Unintentionally, of course! I couldn't hold it all in and it would just kind of leak out when I was asleep. They're fine now, but I couldn't in good conscience stay on duty when my nightmares were putting people into comas. So I returned to my world until I wasn't a risk to the people around me."

"Well you seem to adjusted fairly well to me. I am not sure what you have been through, but I also have been held captive and...bad things happen. It's how I lost my arm." Nathan was not overly fond of talking about his time with Section 31.

Seras released a heavy sigh as she thought on what had happened to her. "I don't know how bad my experience was compared to other people's. I don't want to make it sound like it was so terrible if really it wasn't. It's just that... you have to understand, my people are pacifists. They don't understand a lot of the concepts I've had to learn being around humans. Privacy, secrets, lies, violence, war... We never had those things before we got involved with the Federation. And being hurt like I was... There was nothing in my training at Starfleet that could prepare me for that. And my kind deal with sadness and painful experiences differently from humans, so doing it alone, even with counseling, was crippling for me. And once I went home, I couldn't share this with my people; they were so innocent, I couldn't I defile them by sharing what I had been through! Keeping it a secret, even for their own good, made me feel very lonely." She offered him a sad smile then kept working. "I think I've got a temporary fix, but Petty Officer Carter is definitely going to need to do some serious work in there."

He pulled his arm back and gave it a little test. It was still not responding like it should, but the noise and shaking was gone. "Not even a panic attack." He said, pointing out that she had just touched him with out flipping out.

Seras blinked at him quizzically, then laughed softly. "Well, that's not fair, your arm is more like working on a console than touching a person," Seras said as she reached out to close up the synthetic skin as he tested the arm out. "And... I can touch people, sometimes, kind of, I just don't like it when people touch me. There's a difference, sort of."

"Its still my arm. mechanical or not." Nathan pointed out, and held his hand out to her. "I don't feel it like its a piece of equipment, and before you knew it was prosthetic you didn't know the difference either." He didn't try and touch her himself, just offered his hand to her.

"I suspected you had a prosthetic," Seras said as she did her best to ignore his outstretched hand, pushing her bangs out of the way so he could see her ear, which was also a prosthetic, but not nearly as nice as his so it was slightly discolored and not the same texture as the rest of her skin. "I could hear something wasn't right in you, just couldn't tell what was mechanical," she explained, then started putting her tools away. "And I could work on it just fine because to me it was just another piece of tech, but I see your hand now and I just want to back away." Though she didn't back away, she stayed put until all her tools were packed away in her kit, then set the kit back on top of the table.

Nathan pulled his hand back. "That's ok. But if you ever need that hug I'll be happy to lend my prosthetic to the job." He smiled to her. "Ill also be happy to see if my sister would be willing to help you with yours, if you would like me to." He offered her.

Seras shrugged. "My ear gets the job done, why mess with it?" she countered, but it was still a very kind offer. "I'll consider it," she added with a meek smile. "Anyway, I suspect you wanna go hug Jhu more than me. I'm alright for now, but thanks for checking in on me and for the kind offers, the gestures are definitely appreciated."

"I owe you big time Seras, anything I can do for you ever. I am sure Jhu feels the same way." Nathan nodded his head and stood. "Try and get some sleep. If you need us, Jhu and I are two doors down."

"I don't think I'm leaving my room again until we get back to the Camelot... Even the nice Klingons don't understand the concept of personal space. Last time I tried to sneak out to the mess hall, someone patted me on the head, another offered me a chest bump, and when I fought back I think one of them proposed to me. Then when I tried to use the Federation replicator the Captain brought along, one of them shoved a bowl a moving worms into my hands and then slapped me on the back. I thought humans were crazy, I don't even know how to process what's happened to me on this ship."

Nathan could not help but chuckle. "Wanna know what's really crazy?" Nathan asked as he stretched his back from crouching down.

"I'm almost afraid to know..." Seras said dryly.

"This crew is extremely tame compared to most Klingon crew." Nathan said with a grin. "Ill bring you something to eat in a few hours. Any requests?"

"Oh, I believe you," Seras said with an exasperated sigh, hugging her knees to her chest again. "And I honestly do not care what you bring me so long as it's not still alive. My people are largely vegetarian, so the idea of eating something that's still alive is beyond disturbing."

"Salad it is. See ya in a few hours." Nathan said and made his way to the door. "And if you need us, you can just call us. I'll be here in a blink." Nathan said with a firm nod to Seras.

As nice as Quintina was, Jhu still wasn't a huge fan of having her head examined like she was some sort of lunatic. Yet when the request for a follow-up visit had come through, she'd felt immediately compelled to honor it. It only took her a few minutes to reach Quintina's office door, but she lingered there for a moment before finally ringing the chime. There was no point in standing around; last time Quintina had just asked the computer where she was.

"Come in," Quintina called, looking up from her desk to see who it was as the doors opened and was mildly surprised that she hadn't had to go hunting for Jhu. "Ah, my favorite person! Please, come in and have a seat. Thank you for coming." Standing, she headed to the replicator for a drink. "Can I get you anything? Tea? Cookies? Tuna on toast?"

"You know... now that you mention it, tuna on toast sounds really good." It was a strange thing to offer one's guest, but Jhu wasn't going to complain if it meant eating something the baby seemed to want. "And tea... but not a hot tea. Iced, with cranberry and orange."

"That sounds really good..." Quintina commented as she punched up a platter of baked tuna melts on toast and a pitcher of the requested tea and a pair of glasses. As soon as they were materialized, she slipped them out of the replicator cubby and carried them to the coffee table, plopping down in one of the comfy chairs. Pouring the tea into the glasses, she raised her glass to her lips and sipped, letting out a soft murring sound. "That is good. Please, sit down and talk to me. How have you been? Not too stressed, I hope?"

"I've been... okay." Stress was part of living on a starship, but Jhu didn't think she'd had too much of it recently. As long as you didn't count worrying about Nathan and how she was going to get him back without getting herself thrown in prison. Sitting down, she picked up the other glass of tea and took a sip, pleasantly surprised by how well the flavors of the fruit blended with it. "But there's no one else in my department yet, so stress isn't something I've been able to avoid. Best I can do is decompress after my shift with my cat and a good book. And tea, since I can't drink wine anymore."

"A good tea can be almost just as intoxicating, you know. Just in a different way." Quintina commented as she leaned back in her chair. "And cats... I'm told that they're good at destressing most sentients." Quintina knew a bit more about the furry critters, but that was their secret to tell, not hers. "Any more dreams or visions? Did you go to see Seras like I recommended?"

Jhu nodded slightly. "I did talk to Seras, and then she helped me with that. As for the cat... I think he's the only thing that keeps me sane anymore."

"Excellent! May I ask how your visit with her went?" Quintina pressed.

"It was a little... odd. Cairn telepathy is a strange thing, but we're compatible at least." Deciding that she really was quite hungry, Jhu picked up her tuna melt and took a few bites of it, contemplating how her visit with Seras had gone. "She tested my limits first, which was interesting. And later she sat with me while I slept, using her telepathic ability to bolster my own. It worked quite well... except for Nathan threatening her and calling her a Talosian..."

Quintina chuckled softly at the reference. "I suppose that's to be expected then. Did she sense that Nathan was an individual being rather than a part of you?" she asked hopefully. That was the main thing that she was hoping for out of that exchange, after all.

Jhu nodded. "She knew. And he told her something... something I have no idea about. I couldn't hear what he said, but I sensed it was some sort of secret he'd been sworn not to tell me."

"Then I'm inclined to solidify my belief that you're one of the most interesting and remarkably sane people I know." Quintina grinned smugly like a cheshire cat with a canary in her paws as she sat back and relaxed - a look uniquely patented by the Q.

"That doesn't say much for the other people you know." Jhu snickered a bit, eating some more of her sandwich.

"It may reflect poorly on them, but I'm interested in you enough to offer any treatment or friendship you may possibly desire. True entertainment in this world is hard enough to come by and I'd rather not lose what little I have that gives me a chuckle or two." Quintina replied.

"Psychological and psychiatric treatments tend not to work out so well for me, but I could use a friend." Jhu smiled a little, glad she'd found at least one new person on this ship who seemed to like her. "I had to leave my best friend in the galaxy to get out of a dangerously stressful situation. I'm not sure she'll ever forgive me for it."

"Oh? Anyone int... That I might have heard of?" Quintina asked curiously. "And may I ask what kind of situation it was?"

"Being first officer under a man who should never have been made captain of a starship. I mean, sure. Kris has his flaws, but he cares about his crew. I don't believe M'rayr cares about his, not in the way that good commanders do." Jhu shrugged a bit. "When you're pregnant and your bridge station doesn't involve a chair, things get a bit awkward and unstable. Kris at least understands that."

"Intrepid class, right? with that crazy tiny doolally excuse for a tactical console? I feel for you." Quintina said with a solemn nod. "As for our Captain, I wouldn't be here if I didn't think he'd be entertaining at the very least."

"Thinking about it makes me queasy." Jhu set her sandwich down on the table, trading it for her iced tea instead. "I don't much care for the tactical station on this ship either, but at least it's big enough to lean against and still be able to fire the phasers. Though I'm not sure why I keep getting stuck with that because supposedly we have a security chief."

"Because if you're good at something, people keep wanting you to do it." Quintina replied with a chuckle. "What about this friend then? What happened that they might not forgive you for? If they're your best friend, I'd think they could forgive just about anything..."

Jhu sighed lightly. "When I left the Katana, it was supposed to be a brief shore leave to get my bearings and come to terms with having lost Nathan. As you can see, I never went back. I did try to send her a message, but I don't think it got through."

Quintina nodded. "These things happen. I'm sure she knows that Starfleet does things like this all the time and that notification is sometimes after the reassignment. I do have a few contacts here and there, if you want me to see if I can check up on her."

"I'd appreciate it." A few years ago, Jhu never would have imagined being friends with someone like Maica, let alone best friends now separated by lightyears. "For all I know she's not even on the Katana anymore."

"Only one way to find out," Quintina replied as she levered herself out of her chair and headed to her desk, punching up the personnel systems database directly. "What's her name, rank and department?"

"Lieutenant Commander Maica, Diplomatic Corps." Jhu had no idea if the rank or diplomatic position was still current, but at least it was a start.

Quintina tapped away at her desk for a few minutes before humming interestedly at what she was seeing. "So she's an android? And from another universe like you? Very fascinating... She's currently at the Daystrom Institute being treated like royalty with her wife."

"Yeah, my best friend is a walking computer." Jhu grinned a little. "She deserves that... and it explains why she never called back. She never got the note."

"Probably not. At least you know where to find her and how to contact her at least." Quintina transferred the contact info to a small PaDD and headed back to her comfy chair, setting the PaDD down next to Jhu's tea.

"Thanks." Jhu reviewed the contact information for a moment before picking her sandwich back up and finishing it. "I doubt she'll want to come out here to visit, but at least we could talk again."

"And that's what's important - open lines of communication. Odds are that you were both re-assigned at the same time and left notes for each other that never got delivered." Quintina said optimistically. "I'm just surprised an android is actually married. I didn't think the Federation was that far along yet."

"Federation as a whole, maybe not. But some of us don't see an issue with it." Jhu shrugged a bit. "Besides, Andy is perfect for her. They're seriously like a match made in heaven."

"Then I wish them well and hope they live long happy lives." Quintina slumped deeper into her chair as she mused over a couple other things. "So... How do we get YOUR mate back into your arms?"

"We can't, unless we all want death sentences," Jhu grumbled almost under her breath. "Starfleet wouldn't even dare acknowledge he might be alive."

"Talos four? I'd really love to go smack them around... Them and their bullshit treatise..." Quintina muttered. She still had a bone to pick with them from something they demanded aeons ago.

"Yeah, Talos IV. The only death sentence still officially on the books. Kris got off easy getting sent to Rura Penthe... not to mention the rest of us who basically got away with it." True, it had been on Kris's orders and Jhu had tried to protest, but she still didn't find it especially fair.

"That's part of their treatise, actually. That the continuum keep other races away. That general order doesn't actually exist. Well... It does because we made it..." Quintina explained.

"Uh huh." Jhu sipped some of her tea and then set the glass down. She was getting tired, and she didn't know if it was because she was working too hard lately or if the baby just wanted a nap. "That brings a new light to it, I guess. I don't intend to tell Kris about it though... no telling what he'd do with the information." She'd barely finished speaking when she yawned quite abruptly. "Sorry. That time of day, I suppose."

"Yeah I wouldn't tell him either. You also probably shouldn't tell him I found out that he's prayed to the Q of this universe." Quintina said jokingly. "Interested in taking a nap here? This furniture is perfect for it and I don't have anything on my schedule for the rest of the day."

"Praying to a Q. Elements forbid." Jhu chuckled a little, considering the invitation. "The couch in my office is pretty terrible, and it's awfully early to go home..."

"Computer, meditative mix four and dim the lights to twenty percent please." Quintina said, getting back up to grab a couple blankets from behind one of the couches against a wall. Offering one to Jhu with a soft smile, Quintina said nothing as the sounds of soothing tones and flowing water softly filled the now dimly lit room.

Jhu continued considering the invitation for a moment before giving in and nodding slightly. "You make a good argument. I'll stay then... probably quieter here anyway."

Quintina smiled aprovingly as she helped Jhu get comfortable, then did so herself.

Now that the Camelot had been assigned a doctor, Jhu figured she'd better at least make a cursory visit to sickbay to make sure said doctor had her baseline medical information. It wasn't so much that she didn't trust him, but he was unfamiliar and she'd had a lot of issues with unfamiliar doctors in the past. Also, she thought he might have some additional input on getting food to actually stay down. As nice as Merith's replicator recipes were, Jhu was only having about a forty percent success rate with eating anything.

This being a young ship, sickbay was quiet when Jhu arrived, which was just as well. She hated a noisy or bustling sickbay, and fewer people around meant the doctor might actually have time to sit and listen to her.

There was always this lull right before a launch that carried over a day or two after a might starship pulled from it's mooring and headed into deep space. Crew were settling in, getting used to their new assignments, so they weren't thinking about the mandatory sickbay visit that would need to happen for every crewman on board.

The new crew physicals were essentially for a couple of reasons. One: It allowed the medical staff to get to know people. Two: It gave the medical staff a baseline to work with should changes in health of a person take place. Three - and this was the most important: It was important to check that no one was carrying something deadly or contagious.

Kavyn Rajol had been mostly grateful for this lull. Having been a late add to the crew, he hadn't had a chance to fully settle into not only his quarters but into a new sickbay. Being a CMO wasn't the hard part, he had been one on a previous assignment, it was getting used to the people who would serve under him that would be the hard part. It was always an arduous process to get to know names, and positions. He knew in a few days he would have it all down pact, but until then he was glad to have the quiet time.

The sound of the doors parting broke his concentration, and his hazel eyes swept up to see a woman stride into his sickbay. She wore the three full pips of a commander, and he had recalled seeing her briefly at the meeting. She looked tired, sick, and like she carried the emotional weight of the universe on her shoulders. A welcoming, pleasant smile crossed his lips. "Hello, Commander," he said, using rank since he didn't know her or her name yet. "What do I owe the pleasure?" Though he asked, he had a feeling the protruding belly that he had noticed earlier was the reason for the visit.

"I hate physicals," Jhu responded cheerfully. "But since I have more than just my life to worry about, I came in as soon as I could. Not because I'm worried... I just saw a Vulcan doctor before coming aboard. Figured I should let you get a baseline physical in while I'm between bouts of morning sickness."

"Prudent course of action," Rajol assured. "You will have the honor of being my first physical." The biobed, the one that contained the sensor clam was the one he preferred. "Why don't you hop on up, and we will get started." Rajol pulled the cart closer to the biobed, and picked up the newer medical tricorder that was coming off the line. The newest in the line of medical scanning devices was slim and sleek. It had a much larger touch screen then the previous version. It was a lot more powerful, accurate, and he a better linkup with the medical database.

His first question right out of the gate was, "Have you been given anything for the morning sickness?" He had obviously dealt with pregnant women before, some wanted something to curb the nausea, others wanted to ride it out. It was a personal choice by the mother, and a choice he would gladly accommodate.

"They've tried lots of things." With the weight of the baby, Jhu wasn't doing much hopping. Fortunately she was just tall enough that any more than a teensy hop was unnecessary to get onto the biobed. "Phenergan, zofran, every acid reducer they could think of, benadryl, dramamine..." She rolled her eyes a bit at the list. "I could go on, but you get the idea, I'm sure. I've had some luck with peppermint or ginger, but the only thing that really helps at all is a Ba'ku tea that a friend gave me the recipe for. And even that isn't a sure thing." Jhu hadn't really told anyone how bad it had gotten, but she saw little point in keeping things from Rajol. Maybe he'd be able to help. "The doctor I was seeing on Vulcan suggested all manner of herbs and native plants... I don't know what most of them were, but I can say they didn't help much... though plomeek soup was nearly always certain to stay down."

The biobed was just high enough that Jhu's feet didn't quite touch the deck, and she kicked them lightly to ward off the tingly sensation of lost blood return. Hardly aware she was doing it, she continued on with her answer. "At this point I'm willing to accept that there's little to be done. I mean, she's due in less than four months and I've spent most of six either throwing up or nearly passing out. I've just learned to be careful."

Rajol found himself frowning at that. To him, with modern medicine, no woman of any species should have to suffer with any type of sickness through their pregnancies. Though, in hindsight, he still knew it was a personal choice by the mom-to-be if she wanted to take medication. "Smart move," he said as he started the scan. "Would you consider a holistic approach? A combination of herbs and plants."

"I would consider anything that would help. If you have a combination in mind, please share it. And don't worry about whether or not I'd actually eat or drink it... I'm the only person in my family who will eat gagh. Willingly." Jhu snickered a little. "My only request is to avoid anything that would make me go to sleep, unless I can take it only at night."

Stace was exhausted. He wasn't so old that he couldn't go a night without sleep, but he'd not slept well two days previous, and had been up all night going over the whole Talos thing. He needed some down time quite badly. He was drawn to Seras' door and sounded her chime while stifling a yawn.

The chime was answered by a soft 'Come in', allowing the door to swish open to reveal Seras hiding behind the divider that separated the main room of her quarters from the bedroom. She peeked out with a timid pout, almost afraid to see who had come to bother her now. Her eyes looked heavy, she had not slept at all on the trip to Talos, and her chest still hurt where she had been stabbed by Nathan's illusionary blade; the doctor had cleared her, the pain really was all in her head, she just couldn't shake it...

"Stace," she said softly with a hint of relief. She had come to equate this man with a sense of safety; he understood her phobia in ways so few could, even if it was from the opposite end of the spectrum.

"Hey." He smiled and stepped in, but only enough to let the doors close behind him. "Could you use some company?" He asked. "I can make hot chocolate." He coaxed.

"Sure," Seras replied, but remained where she was, watching him warily as he moved to the replicator for the hot chocolate. "How did everything go while we were away?" she asked in an attempt to work herself out of her shell.

"Fine. Well not fine, but well enough. I've just been overwhelmed with putting it all together in something that makes sense for Starfleet." Stace was use to Seras by now, so her standing in her bedroom doorway didn't bother him. He'd accepted at first meeting that things needed to be on her terms in regards to personal space. He put the hot chocolate on the coffee table though, rather than bringing it to her. Not to coax her out, he was just afraid if he stepped into her personal space at the moment, he'd grab her into a hug. He was feeling very much mentally itchy.

Seras nodded, looking at the hot chocolate sitting on the table. After a moment of figgitting she finally came out of her bedroom and sat down at the table with him to sit at the steaming mug. "Guess you heard how things went on Talos," she ventured. Really, it was something she would rather forget, but she also understood that talking about things could help assimilate experiences.

"I got the report." Stace told her. "Doesn't really paint the full picture though." He left it open in case she wanted to talk. He sat back, unconsciously leaning a bit towards her. Just the proximity was helping.

Seras was silent for a long while as she sipped at her hot chocolate, then she looked at him with a forced smile. "I have come to the decision that I do not care for Klingons all that much. They have no sense of personal boundaries." Then she rapped her over her mug thoughtfully. "Oh, and getting stabbed in the chest by an illusionary sword sucks."

"I think just getting stabbed falls into the suckage category yes." Stace had to agree with a smile. "Are you going to be ok?"

"It still hurts but the doctor said I'm fine, the pain is all in my head," Seras said with a shrug. "I think I'm more worried about my sense of hygiene at this point. It seems like I can't stay out of the shower..." He couldn't see it under the heavy sweater she was wearing, but she had scrubbed her skin raw trying to wash away the memory of how often she had been man-handled by the Klingons. Her face was a little overly pink from all the scrubbing, but it wasn't nearly as bad as the rest of her...

Stace frowned. He knew what she was experiencing and it wasn't pleasant. "You just need to relax. Drink your cocoa." He mother henned her, motioning towards the mug.

"Yes sir!" Seras replied with a grin and a mock salute, then took another swig of her cocoa. "I'm looking forward to some downtime, but I don't think we're going to get it; I can sense something going on, thoughts are a-buzz about something... Whatever it is, it's bothering the Captain, big time." It was too soon for her sense anything from the crew with any clarity, but she had been around the Captain enough on the trip to Talos that she could get a fair sense of what was on his mind.

"Yeah, I'm sure he'll brief us when he's ready. I've felt the same thing." Stace did after all share a bed with the man quite regularly. Stace caught himself reaching towards Seras, but stopped himself before he actually breached what would normally be considering personal space. He sighed deeply, this was ridiculous. He lurched up and half stomped off to get a blanket off her bed, then came back and holding his hands where she could see them, he slowly wrapped it around her. When he sat back down he slowly tugged her into his lap, now his sigh was one of contentment. "It's not touching, it's a blanket." He mumbled, his whole body going lax in much needed relaxation.

"What are you-" Seras started as she was enveloped in the blanket, but then the rest of her words were swallowed in surprised squeak when he pulled her into his lap. "You know this is cheating," she grumped, sitting stiff as a board for a moment. Goodness, he must have really needed the contact if he was violating her personal space like this! But his arms weren't around her, so she didn't feel at all caged in, and knowing she had the freedom to get away certainly helped. Well, his little trick was working because eventually she relaxed against him. "Oh goodness, I think I needed this..." Seras said with a sigh, resting her head against his chest as she tugged the blanket tighter around herself, secure in the notion of contact with a barrier.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled that too, but then let out a soft chuckle. "Actually, I'm not. We both needed it. Are you ok if I put an arm around you now?" He asked.

"Yes?" she replied with a hint of uncertainty, and she did stiffen up just a bit when his arms wound around her, but she didn't remain that way for long, relaxing back into him know that he would let her go at the first signs that she had reached the limits of what she would tolerate. In truth, she had surpassed that several Klingons and a bowl of squirming gahg ago, she was still fighting to re-establish her sense of personal equilibrium, but she did need this hug so much right now... "Thank you," she said softly.

"Ditto." Stace chirped back. He leaned down to nuzzle gently at her hair. She smelled nice, she smelled....pack. That was new. Stace hadn't had that feeling since leaving his quartet of Caitians, and they'd been more pack cousins than true pack. He let the feeling envelop him.

Seras could sense something from Stace, something she couldn't truly comprehend; she would probably never understand the sense of 'pack' like he would, but this feeling was filling her with a sense of warmth and belonging and she realized that it reminded her of home, and it had been a long time since even home felt like home... No place was safe for her anymore, no where except right here, with Stace.

"Tired," she said drowsily as she melted further into her wolf-man. She hadn't had a decent night's sleep on the trip to Talos, but she had a feeling that she wouldn't have any trouble falling asleep now.

"mmhhm" Was the only response Stace gave. He was quickly being pulled under the spell of sleep now that he wasn't alone.

"Bed," she reminded him softly, rapidly losing her fight with her fatigue.

Oh right. They'd both wake up with a kink in the neck or smack into the coffee table by falling off. Stace yawned and stood, easily carrying Seras in her blanket wrapping. He put her down on the bed, then quickly toed off his boots before flopping down beside her. "Night."

Just before Seras finally succumbed to sleep, she managed to inchworm closer to Stace so that she was snuggled right up next to him like the cute little Cairn burrito that she was.

It was the best night sleep Stace had gotten in quite some while. Of course that meant that he seemed to have grown an extra set of arms somewhere in the night. He had himself tangled around Seras in a gentle yet protective knot of limbs.

Maybe it was simply because she was still deep asleep or maybe it was because she had grown so comfortable around Stace, but Seras seemed unbothered by the close contact. She didn't even seem to mind the skin to skin contact of his cheek against her forehead, or his arm around her waist. If anything, she found herself snuggling in closer to him, unconsciously drinking in the contact that her fears had been denying her for years now. Maybe that would change once she was awake and her fears took over, but for now she was blissfully content the way they were tangled up in each other.

As it was more often than not, it was Stace's stomach that brought him awake, quickly followed by his groin. He growled softly deep in his throat, cursing his libido for trying to make this awkward. Then he was fully conscious and realized he probably shouldn't be growling. He didn't want to wake Seras, especially since he was going to need another minute of thinking about Ferengi ears to take care of one of his problems. The thought of Ferengi ears worked, but that only brought his bladder into cahoots with his stomach. He was going to need to get up. He disengaged his limbs from Seras as gently as he could, then slipped out of bed to take care of business and make some breakfast.

Extricating himself from Seras had roused her slightly, but only enough that she rolled over, pulling the blanket over her head in an attempt to avoid the morning, though eventually the need for food in answer to the call of the delightful scent of breakfast wafting over finally brought consciousness to the sleepy Cairn. She peeked out from her blanket with a heavy yawn. Oh goodness, she couldn't remember the last time she'd slept so deeply, but clearly she'd needed it. She pulled herself from her cocoon and searched the sea of blankets for her vocal synthesizer, which she had neglected to take off the night before. It took longer than she would have liked to admit to find the synthesizer, but once the device was in hand she stumbled from the bed and out to meet Stace to see what he had made for breakfast, plopping into a chair with another heavy yawn.

Stace chuckled in fondness at the sleepy Seras. He was devouring what looked like an entire side of bacon, but he brought her toast and eggs. "I didn't know what else you'd like." He said, as he spooned over a helping of scrambled eggs to his own bacon filled plate.

"Get me a bowl of fruit and some coffee and it's perfect," Seras said with a drowsy smile, holding her synthesizer to her throat just long enough to speak. She set it down on the table so she could fumble with the neck strap under the neck of her sweater, then tucked the synthesizer in place once everything was sorted. "Mmm, this smells really good," she said as she shoveled some bacon and eggs onto her plate, taking a bite of bacon with a dreamy sigh. Oh, so much better than gahg...

Stace smiled at that, then brought over fruit and coffee.Only turning his nose up a tad at the smell of fruit. He sat back down and plowed back into his bacon. "Thanks." He spoke with his mouth full, though did make some effort to not overly open his maw. "I needed that sleep."

"No, I should be thanking you," Seras said as she worked down a mouthful of bacon, then she paused for a sip of coffee. "I honestly cannot remember the last time I slept so well," she continued, offering a warm smile to her wolf-man. "And I still say you cheated using the blanket," she added with a cheeky smirk as she dove back into her breakfast. But the truth was, she needed that hug last night too...

Stace smiled. "I never claimed to play, or fight fair. I admit it was an entirely selfish idea, but you're not complaining. We all need comfort now and then, even if we have to fight ourselves to get it."

"You know, I could complain if it would make you feel any better," Seras offered with a teasing grin, but then she grew more serious. "Just try not to get too bold. I mean, I'm okay with what happened last night, but I have no way of knowing how this fear will make me react tonight or tomorrow..."

"Are you sure last night was ok?" He double checked. It seemed an odd concern for her to voice if he hadn't already stepped over some line, but he couldn't be quite sure.

"Stace, my people don't lie, they don't even understand the concept of dishonesty and secrets, and even after all my years around humans I still don't like lies or secrets even though I understand that sometimes they are necessary. Add to that, I'm a terrible liar, so if I say I'm okay, I mean what I say," Seras replied sincerely. "Am I annoyed you broached my personal space? Yeah, I am, but not enough to be upset over it. Truth was, I knew you must have needed the contact badly if you were willing to make that leap, and I was so far past my comfort zone after the Klingons that holding me was about the only way to snap me out of my stupor. And you made me feel safe, and I haven't felt that since before the Stargazer incident... So yeah, I'm okay with what happened, but this fear in me isn't rational, so I can't predict how I'll react if you do it again later."

Stace nodded, accepting her explanation. The first part of which he already knew, and should have trusted. "Alright. Well Thank you again, I need to go get a shower and start wading through the mountains of paperwork I have." He reached out and just gently touched her wrist, barely a brush of his fingers over the top.

Her hand flinched away, purely a reflexive action, but she made an effort to keep her hand where it was; she wasn't afraid of him, regardless of what her fears and phobic behavior were driving her to do. This barest touch, the warmth of his hand over hers, so close yet so far away, had her at war between her desires and fears once again. Her eyes met his for a moment, an effort to show she was trying to move past the discomfort, but eventually she averted her gaze and drew her hand back into her lap. She immediately regretted it; she knew she was letting this phobia control her life, she wanted it to stop, but it always felt like something was holding her back...

"Yeah, I, uh, have a shift to get to soon as well," Seras said awkwardly, but she wanted to try to move past the awkwardness. "Maybe if you're not doing anything over lunch, I can come by and we can read some reports together. No doubt I've got a stack of them waiting for me as well."

"Sure." Stace agreed, forcing a smile. He pulled his hand back slowly, not wanting to make an issue of it, 'too much too soon' he thought. "See you at lunch."

"Yeah, see you later," Seras said, wishing she could simply jump up and give him a squeezing hug, but she didn't, instead remaining seated where she was as she watched him leave, and she knew she would be kicking herself over it for a long while...


Cmdr Stratford Brooks
XO

Lieutenant Seras
Chief of Operations

To say that Kris had a lot on his mind or a heaping pile of steaming shit on his plate was an understatement. Though not everything was bad, the good was still wearing quite heavily upon his shoulders. Kris of the past would have sought refuge at the end of a dozen bottles of good hard liquor. Captain Kristopher N. Kerouac of the present was a man of reform, retribution, and had climbed himself up a difficult rope to sobriety...praying he had the strength to make it last.

His current assignment was most definitely a stress producer, but in addition to his standing orders, he had just entered a new relationship or at least setting the foreground for it. Then, there was the whole 'fatherhood' matter that Kris was gingerly inching toward. Kris had once thought about a future where he could have a family of his own, a kid maybe two...but it had been years since he allowed such a thought to enter his mind.

Now, it was all he could think about. Shira and Verak had died, leaving their unborn child...a pod for Kris to become the legal and rightful guardian of. He was to be this child's father, a decision he quickly made and accepted. However, he would soon experience it first hand as the pod baby was expected to be born in a short matter of time.

Merith had remained aboard to oversee Kris accepted his new duties as father and to observe the child's birth. However, the Captain knew that once her job was complete Merith would likely leave.

As he entered the room, he saw the woman. Her back towards him as she watched over the pod. Kris slowly approaching her from behind. In a quick moment, a memory flashed vividly through his mind. Years ago...what felt like a lifetime ago. Kris' apartment in the kitchen, Merith using an actual stove to cook dinner and Kris walking up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist, leaning over her shoulder and kissing her neck.

He quickly snapped back to the present, and veered off towards the side, approaching her from her left. "How long until the big day?" he asked as he looked at the large pod. "I'm building a crib you know" he added with a small smile.

"It's good that you're making preparations, but you might need to hurry," Merith said in a hushed, wearied tone. Tending to this pod was a near constant effort and she didn't have the inherent skill or know-how that Shira possessed to keep the pod healthy. In many ways, Merith felt like she had failed Kris and Shira and this baby for not being able to care for the pod better; she was a scientist and it was her job to be able to figure these things out, but it seemed this task was just beyond her grasp, which for all her experience was both startling and humbling...

Kris flashed her a look of slight concern. "Why? Is something wrong?" he asked, not noticing anything cosmetically disconcerting.

"According to the notes taken by Dr Cohen during his talks with Shira, Arboreal gestation requires a year, half of which is spent in the pod," she continued, rubbing at her temples to try to fend off a building headache. "Shira had already given birth early because of the accident, so I don't know how that affects the timing, but I don't think the baby will make it to full term. The pod has been showing signs of deterioration and last night it started leaking. We got the leaking under control, but we've taken it as a sign that the baby's arrival is imminent, so we've given her corticosteroids to help her lungs mature."

Captain Kerouac took the news heavily and placed a hand on Merith's shoulder. "We can't lose this child, Merith. I won't lose this child. I know that you are doing your best...but I'm scared. Corticosteroids to help her lungs mature? How many vital organs are under developed at this stage?"

"I don't know," Merith answered honestly. "We know so little about Shira's kind, add to that the complexities of the Vulcan physiology, I have no idea what's going on inside this child, and the good doctor is as much in the dark as I am. As best we can tell, she's stable and not under any stress despite her pod's condition."

Merith paused to look at Kris, his concern mirroring her own. She may not have been close to Shira like he had been, but she had spent so much time caring for this child that she had grown rather fond of her. She knew she couldn't keep the baby, the child belonged to Kris as they had agreed, but even still, if something happened to the baby then Merith knew her grief would be as profound as Kris'.

"In most cases of premature birth, the lungs are the most important focus early on, making sure the baby can breath. After that, we assess and treat as we can. But I am hopeful; Vulcans are a hardy species, and according to Dr Cohen's notes, Shira said her kind are born somewhat self-sufficient, indicating that some of the extra gestational time may not be necessary by our accepted standards. Even with that in mind, I felt the steroids a prudent precaution, just to be safe."

Kris scoffed at the mere mention on Doctor Cohen, a man he had spent a few months in a serious relationship with. However, the man had not reached out to Kris while Kerouac was in prison nor had Dr. Liam Cohen responded to any of Kris' attempts to contact him since the Captain's early release.

He shook himself free from the emotional snag. Regardless of the state of their dead relationship, Kris needed to push those feelings aside. "Right now, I could not care less to hear his name mentioned, but he was Shira's primary physician and his notes are what we have. I have tried reaching out to him...attempted to contact him a dozen times to no answer. An attempt from you may do better than my own" said Kris.

"Do what you have to, Merith to save this child. Contact Liam and try to get him to help you through anything that he may be able to shed some light on" added Kris. "There was a time in my life where I wanted nothing more than to settle down and be a husband and a father...it has been a while since I've been faced with it as a reality."

"I got what I needed from Dr. Cohen when I came to retrieve Shira, Verak and their baby. I contacted him to get her medical files and research and had their personal belongings shipped to Vulcan. At that time, Dr. Cohen said that he put everything in her file, so I have little use for contacting him now," Merith said coldly, obviously not having a favorable opinion of Kris' ex. Or maybe it was simply Kris' mention of settling down; some part of her was still bitter about being left at the alter. "And clearly you did not want to settle down as much as you thought you did," she added, then sighed and cast an apologetic glance his way. "I am sorry if I sound bitter, but this topic is difficult for me to tolerate and... I am very tired."

Kerouac scoffed and crossed his arms. "Tired as you are, I do not think your lack of sleep constitutes the bitchy attitude I've been receiving" he said after she struck a few nerves. "I am not even going to bother pussy footing around that statement. I'm not going to ask what you meant by that because I think we both know damn well what you meant" said the Captain.

He uncrossed his arms and looked at Merith in the eyes. "Why don't we just talk about the big queer elephant in the room? Nobody else is here. It's just us and this child. You have something to say to me, Merith?"

With that, Merith reach up and slapped Kris, though immediately she looked appalled at what she'd done; she didn't have a violent nature by any stretch of the imagination, she was a pacifist through and through, so it shocked her that he had provoked her into using violence. But her emotions were still running hot, enough that she didn't stay surprised for long and her ire returned in the form of a verbal lashing.

"You want to know what I have to say to you?! There's not enough words in your language to do justice to the things I'd like to say to you," Merith scolded firmly. "But if you insist, lets start with the fact that you left me. You left me. I waited for you to come back, I wanted it to be some terrible dream I could wake from, but you... How could you just walk away from me like that?! How could you leave me wondering what I had done to deserve being left at the alter! We made promises to each other, I loved you! Love you... and I still do."

Her voice grew softer and less angry as she continued, a well of emotions she left bottled up for far too long overflowing in this confession, which she continued more calmly. "I'm not dumb enough to jump back on that wagon, but I can't turn those feelings off either. I wanted to spend my life with you, have children with you, grandchildren, to grow old with you and then go back to my world where we could be young again because one lifetime was not enough for all the feelings I had for you. To see you walk away... it cut so deep, Kris. You had a chance at family... How can I be sure that you won't walk away from this child, like you walked away from me and Shira. I know your interest in her was not romantic, but I know you called her family, and yet you left her too. You threw yourself into something dangerous, the consequence of which meant you leaving the crew you called family. And then you did again, left me in charge of your ship to go back to Talos when I should have been tending to the pod. How's that for a queer elephant?"

Kris knew this was coming. They had gone years without saying most of this and months without uttering the rest. He just never expected all of it to be heaped together and dropped into his lap. Her slap came fast and hard. A slap deserving of a gold medal and a championship trophy. No man, woman, nor beast had ever slapped the dignity out of him like she just had with one quick slap across his soft cheek, leaving it flesh hot red.

He was not angry with her though. Though his face stung like a dozen jellyfish stings, almost numbingly so, he didn't dare race a fist nor hand to return the exchange. He wouldn't hit her not because she was a woman, but because she was right to do what she had and Kris had to respect that. If anything, they both needed it. The slap was therapeutic to them both in a strange symbiotic need.

"I deserved that slap just as I deserve every word you've shot my way, Merith" admitted Kris. "You deserved better than what I gave you and you deserved a better man than I was then. That's partially why we are the way that we are here today, and why we don't have rings on our fingers. We were not meant to be anything more than friends...not in our timelime...not in our universe" said Kris shaking his head.

"I love you too, Merith. I love you more than I even can understand, but even though I loved you...I knew that I could never give you what you deserved and needed. Uri was the love of my life, my fiance, and the man I wanted to have a family with. Back then, a thousand years could have passed me by and I'd still be looking out the nearest observation port waiting for him to come home" countered Captain Kerouac.

Kris looked Merith in the eyes and gently brushed his curled hand against her soft cheek. "You are beautiful, bright, and an intelligent scientist. You were then and you are now more so than ever before. All I could have given you was a lonely alcoholic, struggling with depression, and not ready to accept the love of his life was never returning home" he attempted to explain. "You and I...no matter how much we love one another nor care for one another....we're too different, Merith. We are two very different people with wants and needs that don't match up. Two ships passing in the night. What we had was beautiful, but brief."

He took a deep breath and shook his head. "I purposed to you because you deserved and still do deserve a husband. You deserve love and happiness...but its not the kind of love and happiness that I can give you. I made the mistake of trying to shape myself to fit what you needed, and was late in realizing to do so would only break your heart in the end...and I never wanted to break your heart."

"It took me more than a hundred years to get over my husband's death, so don't think for a second I am uncomprehending of your feelings, but you don't have that kind of time to grieve," Merith reminded him with a pained shudder in tone. "But you should have told me how you felt rather than stringing me along all the way to the alter. I took a chance with you, let myself love again... You let me believe I had a future with you and then you made me wonder what I did to make you run away. If you had told me before things got too serious, yes it would have hurt, that was unavoidable, but I would have understood! When you care for someone, there are some things you can't keep to yourself!" His confession still didn't answer her concerns about him running off and leaving Shira's child behind; she wasn't wrong about that either, he had left his family to chase a fool's errand and he took a hell of a chance to do it again. "And what about this child? How can I leave her in your care if I can't be certain you'll be there for her? Forget about Uri, this child will be the center of your life from now on. Everything you do, it has to be for her now. No more chasing after ghosts or taking careless risks... As much as it pains me to see you hurting yourself with those antics, I won't let you bring her down with you."

Kris glared at Merith. "The days of unnecessary risks are behind me, Merith. I know you will cite Talos IV to me twice, but let's remember that I only went to Talos IV the first time to get my crew back to their families...to get Shira back to a place where she could return home if she needed or wanted to. Though my efforts in the end were a failure what I did, I did for the crew. I did for my family" he said sharply.

He let out a sigh. "The second time...a risk? Yes, but a risk for family. Anything for family. We went to Talos IV to get Nathan back and in the end, we were successful in rescuing part of this family and reuniting a man and woman who very much wish to have a family of their own" added Kris. "So, if you are asking whether or not I can be trusted to be responsible for that child, you bet your ass I can and will be" confirmed Kris. "I don't take unnecessary risks these days, Merith. I take the necessary risks one takes in order to protect family."

"Was it worth it to go in person and leave me in charge of the ship knowing full well that I'm the one that's kept her alive this long," Merith countered, pointing to the pod. "I'm glad you got your Officer back, really I am, but you did not need to go; I needed to be here to take care of her, putting me in charge of your ship was not the right call."

Kris stiffened and shook his head. "Was it worth it, absolutely yes. Was it the right call...maybe not, but that is not for you to decide. I was in command and I made a command decision. I was not about to let some outsider come in and take command of my starship and I sure the hell was not going to let anyone go to Talos IV without me. I could not risk people without placing myself at the same risk" countered Kris.

Unknown to either of them, the child's peaceful rest in her pod was becoming less calm as their banter continued. She could hear them arguing and the discord was stressing her. Her little heart was racing faster and faster until it caused an alert to sound off on one of the monitors. Merith breathed a small expletive in her native tongue as she knelt beside the pod with a tricorder to assess the situation.

Kris quickly stopped and came to Merith's side. "What's going on? What is wrong with Cadence?" asked Kris, revealing the name he had selected for his child.

Merith smiled at the name; it was fitting that he had already chosen a name for the child and it was wonderful name. "I believe she was upset by our fighting," Merith said as she reviewed the scans. "If you keep your tone low she should calm down on her own, but suffice it to say we'll have to table our discussion for later." Not that their argument was anything so terribly important at this point, just two adults yelling at each other like children vying for who was right in an effort to work out their pent up aggression. At this point, Merith didn't care who was right anymore, she just wanted little Cadence to be okay.

"I'm sorry" he said sincerely. "I did not mean to raise my voice at you like that. It's just a very sore subject as I know you know it is as well" he added.

"It's a tender subject for both of us," Merith said understandingly. She reached out to give the pod a gentle pat; she knew the baby could hear them but she didn't know how many other sensations were available to the baby, so the gesture was more for her own assurances than to calm the child. "Come on, little one, calm down. Lets get that heart rate down," she coaxed the child in a soothing tone, though the concern was written clearly on her face when Cadence's heart rate showed no signs of slowing.

Kris shook his head. "Merith, what's wrong? Why aren't her vitals and heart rate returning to normal?" asked the Captain uncertain what it all meant, just that in a 'normal' being it was not the best sign.

"Please, let me work," Merith said, trying not to get irritated. She strode over to medical dispenser for a hypospray. "Computer, activate EMH," she said as she returned to the pod and administered the medication to the stem at the base of the pod.

"Please state the nature of- Oh, is it time?" the EMH asked as he appeared, familiar enough with this patient already to recognize what was going on.

"Could be; the baby is distressed and if I can't get her vitals to settle down then we'll have to deliver her early," Merith informed the EMH. "Go get a nurse and get everything setup. And notify the doctor; I believe he's off shift, but if necessary we can get started without him."

Kris felt his own heart rate increase. "Early?! Oh fuck" he said nervously. "I'll get help....Doctor Rajol is off duty, but Doctor Feigenbaum should be on duty."

"Stay calm," Merith cautioned Kris as she continued to monitor Cadence's vitals to see if the medication was helping. "It's good to be worried, but don't give into panic, it won't help you." Merith was remaining cool under pressure, but then again she was accustomed to the stress of impending birth; on her world, she had assisted in the birth of many of the Ba'Ku's children, though delivering a baby from a plant pod was something new, the stress was the same familiar feeling with her own kind and she pushed it aside just the same.

Kris took a deep breath. "I'm trying" he said as he watched the EMH leave to get help.

The EMH went to go get a nurse and Feigenbaum as well as a medical bassinet where they could treat the newborn arboreal, wheeling it into the room and setting it up near the pod.

A few minutes passed, but Doctor Feigenbaum was soon there with a medical and a nurse. Sylar had little prior contact with the child in the pod as it was Doctor Rajol who had been overseeing the patient. The physician approached the pod carefully and gingerly moved a tricorder around the pod. "Any information you can provide, Captain Merith would be appreciated" said the Doctor swiftly.

"It started as an acute rise in her heart rate, but now her vitals are all over the place and she's not responding to medication," Merith replied, not caring too much for working with another doctor when she had been working so closely with Dr. Rajol all this time, but it was necessary. "Given the deterioration of the pod, I believe it has become necessary to remove the child prematurely, which I feel confident I can do myself, but once that's done I will require assistance in stabilizing her."

The Doctor nodded and put his tricorder away. "A logical process deduction and sound reasoning, Captain Merith. I support your opinion that this child needs to be delivered prematurely" said Figenbaum. "Nurse, scrub up" instructed the Doctor "And erect a level 5 sterilization field around this room" added the physician.

Doctor Figenbaum looked at Merith. "Have you delivered children before?" he asked the Ba'ku woman.

"You have no idea..." Merith said with a smirk as she handed off her tricorder and removed her duster so she could scrub up as well. "Though thankfully in this case we only have the life of the child to worry about and not the mother as well, not exactly conditions they prepare you for in medical school. This should be a fair bit easier than I'm used to."

The physician raised a brow and gave a nod. "Indeed" he said simply. "My recent scans indicate that the child is roughly a month premature by human standard. So long as there are no unforeseeable issues during delivery, the child should be in the clear" informed the doctor.

Once all the preparations had been made and the lights were dimmed, mindful of the fact that Shira's people had a light sensitivity, Merith returned to the pod and carefully began peeling back the protective leaves around the pod to expose the skin of it. It had the same texture as a piece of fruit, like a plum even with the same deep color, and as Merith took a laser scalpel to it revealed a thick layer of translucent fibrous pulp surrounding the baby. It looked a lot like aloe and it produced a clear sticky sap that was dripping out of the pod, but they were prepared for a mess. Merith smiled once she made it through the pulp to the baby within.

"There she is," she said gently as she handed off the scalpel and traded it for a blanket that she draped in her lap. She opened the pod a little more and worked the baby free, pulling Cadence into her lap where she began to rub her with the blanket to clean off the sticky sap and to encourage some signs of life in the child. Almost immediately, Cadence let out a small, gurgled cry followed quickly by a cough and a much clearer and louder cry. "Now that's what we want to hear," Merith said with proud, pleased smile as she continued to rub at the child and look her over.

Doctor Figenbaum took off his gloves and gave Merith's shoulder a good tap. "Well done, Captain Merith. You've successfully delivered the first Arboreal-Vulcan child in the history of Starfleet Medicine and Federation Medical History" he said congratulating the woman.

At first glance, Cadence looked like any other humanoid newborn. She was pale, but not nearly as pale as her mother and she definitely had a tone of pink as opposed to Shira's almost grey skin tone, and she was tiny, which could have been because she was premature or just as easily because her mother had been a tiny woman. There were no immediate signs of her arboreal heritage like the grassy hair, but as Merith cleaned the child she could see the iridescence of the wings stuck to the child's back and remained mindful to be careful with them as she handled Cadence. And the ears were clearly Vulcan...

"So what do you think, Papa? Want to cut the cord?" Merith offered with a sly smile as she looked up at him. Merith had no idea what the cord was even attached to inside the pod or how it even worked, something she would study later, but for now all she knew was that it most definitely was attached to something and needed to be severed. The nurse came by to put clamps on the cord and then offered the snips to Kris.

Kris nervously approached and took the medical tool, giving the cord the necessary snip. "Cadence Kerouac" he said softly as he properly said the child's name. He looked at Merith and smiled. "I think she had her father's ears...I haven't chosen a middle name yet."

"Middle names are overrated. And look at how many races don't even make use of surnames," Merith offered with a chuckle. She got a clean blanket from the nurse and lightly draped it around the wriggly little life in her lap, then rose. She gently rocked the child with a shushing sound to calm her, then once Cadence was no longer bawling inconsolably she gently placed the child in Kris' arms.

"Say hello to your Papa, little one," Merith said, pleased beyond measure that Cadence seemed to be alright. "Shira and Verak did a wonderful job when they made her, she is beautiful..."

Kris smiled "Yes, they did. I'd expect nothing less from Shira. She was always quite beautiful in that certain exotic alien way. We learned so much yet so little about her people. I can only imagine the difficulty Cadence will have growing up...struggling with her identity and wanting to know about her Arboreal side."

"I think I would be more worried about pon farr, but that's just me," Merith offered with a chuckle. "Alright, now get in your cuddles before we have to take her. She is still premature and we will need to hold her here for a few days to make sure everything is alright. There's still so much we don't know about the Arboreals, I just want to be certain that everything is fine. Plus, this will give you a couple of days to finish the crib and any other preparation you may need to do."

"Right, the crib" he said with a look of concern. "Maybe I'll have Matthews swing by my quarters and offer a hand" he said with a small smile. He cuddled with the baby for a few moments, allowing that new baby smell to soak in before handing her off to Merith. "Do what you need to in order to make sure she's safe. I'll be in my quarters trying to complete he crib."

"Don't worry, she's in good hands," Merith assured him as she held Cadence for a moment before putting her in the medical bassinet so the doctor could do his examinations. Cadence didn't like being put down and her lip began to quiver as she teetered on the edge of crying again. "It's alright, little one, your Papa will be back soon to get you," Merith said softly to sooth the child, smoothing her hand over the child's pale, fine hair which was still plastered to her head. "We just need to see how healthy you are and what you can eat and what makes you tick because you are just so interesting," she continued, knowing full well the newborn couldn't understand her, but just as when Cadence had been in the pod she was attracted to the sounds of the voices around her, and she had heard Merith's voice enough to find it comforting now. She continued on for a minute to keep Cadence calm while Feigenbaum performed a detailed medical workup with the biobed sensors built into the bassinet. Merith looked over to see Kris lingering in the doorway and she gave him a sympathetic smile.

"I promise, she'll be fine," Merith said, "and if you already have separation anxiety, I'll bring her around first thing in the morning so you can spend time with her," she offered.

"Thank you" replied Kris on his way out. Though he stopped for a moment and looked at Merith. "God mother" he said simply.

Stace had shed down to his sleep shorts and flopped into bed. "I hate you, you know." He teased Kris, who was already in bed beside him. "You take a morbid fascination in watching me manage all these reports, don't you?"

Kris had left Cadence to spend the night under the watchful eye of Merith whilst Kris could fulfill his commitment to the occasional sleeping arrangements that his First Officer needed. It had been a little while since Kris found himself in his First Officer's bed. He had assumed that Stace was able to recruit someone else or a few someone elses to keep the bed warm.

"All my officers hate me in their own ways, Stace" replied Kris as the Captain skimmed through a PaDD. "Managing those reports is part of your duty as First Officer. Watching in morbid fascination in your managing of said reports is my pleasure as ship's Captain" joked Kerouac. "I am up to my neck in reports of my own, Stace. Of a different matter, but reports nonetheless" added Kris.

The Captain looked around the First Officer's room. Being in the man's bed was not an uncommon place to be on some nights due to their arrangement made a while back. Initially it was different yet not really all that strange for Kris. However, recent events in Kris' personal life was making him think about being back in his own bed. "Forgive my curiosity, Stace, but are you seeing anyone? No offense intended, but I'd find it hard to believe a man of your charm and physique hasn't caught the attention of someone aboard."

Stace looked over at Kris and raised a brow. Ahhh, the CO would rather be elsewhere. He should have realized. He'd not wanted to bug Seras again, and Atom had been out, so he'd had to fall back to Kris. "I'm not really looking to 'see anyone', but I can make other sleeping arrangements. You should have let me know."

Kris moved over towards his First Officer and placed his hand on the man's bare shoulder. "I am your friend and if you need me, this is where I will be. I do not abandon my friends" said Kris and he gave the shoulder a small squeeze. "There's been a lot going on in the past few weeks. I'm still mentally trying to play catch up myself. Though I do want to ask your opinion and thoughts on some things...let's say the Captain of a certain starship happens to be seeing a certain junior officer. What would the First Officer's opinion be on that?"

Stace smiled. "I think Starfleet's so called rules about fraternization are ridiculous. You can't help who you love, and it's nobody's business but those involved in the relationship, plus I certainly can't talk. If I followed the rules about who I'm allowed to have sex with, it would leave, well you; and no offense, but you aren't my type."

The Captain scoffed and nearly turned beat red. "Well, I am glad that I am not your type" replied Kris teasingly. "It would make my life way more complicated than I want it to be right now" stated the Captain. "The Arboreal-Vulcan pod baby has been delivered by the way. I'm not sure if you are caught up on medical reports, but I'm now a proud father" said Kerouac with a small smile.

Stace raised a brow. He actually wasn't caught up. He had a bad habit of leaving medical reports for last. He knew some pretty decent first aid, but beyond that, it really wasn't his field, and tended to bring on bad memories he'd rather not dwell on. "Congratulations?" Stace offered more as a question than anything else. "So, how are you going to deal with that?"

Kris shook his head and looked at Stace. "I have no idea...none. Most guys have the luxury to prepare for fatherhood. All I got was the stork in the form of Merith pecking at my window and dropping off an unborn alien child on my ship. Thankfully, she was kind enough to stay until the child was born...but I do not know the first thing about being a father let alone being a single dad" said Kris.

Though he did quickly somewhat correct himself. "Somewhat single dad. I'm seeing someone, but I have no idea how to even approach the matter of dating now. How do you date someone when you yourself have a child, and they do not?"

"You are asking the wrong person." Stace admitted. "I've never dated, and I sure as hell don't skip my birth control injections. But ummmm, maybe get use to it yourself before inviting somebody to join?" it was the best advice he could think of.


The Captain nodded "Sound advice that I would usually take. However, I am afraid to take a back seat on the relationship and risk loosing him. He's a really nice guy and he's intelligent albeit kind of young" said Kris nervously. "Starship Captain dates young 20 something officer, fresh out of school" said Kris with a long sigh as he tossed the PaDD aside and fell gently onto the bed. "I can only imagine the scuttlebutt and gossip already going around Camelot. If an Admiral's ear caught even a subtle whisper of that, they may question my ability to command even more than they already do."

"Pffft. Like they could think any less of you." Stace teased. "Nobody is going to give a shit, and gossip is like air around here, people need it to live, I'm convinced. Now sleep on it and bug me over coffee." Stace pulled on the covers, quite ready to hog them.

"True, aside from needing someone like me, Command's opinion of me is about at bottom of the barrel as you can get" admitted Kris and he got comfortable underneath the covers. "If for whatever reason, I end up cuddling with you and talking about Fishsticks in my sleep...I'm not hungry and you heard nothing."

A soft hum of amusement escaped Stace. "I'm sorry, what was that, I couldn't hear you?" He mumbled, then followed it up with an even more mumbled. "Night."

My first officers are always interesting thought Kris. "Goodnight. Don't howl in your sleep" muttered Kris as he turned over.

***** Several hours later ****

Stace was having a fantastic dream. Seras was not only enjoying his touch, but she was touching him back, in a very intimate way. Stace moaned into the touch, unaware that in his sleep he was acting very much like a wolf, to the outside of his Commanding Officer's thigh no less.

Kris was having a rather pleasant dream of his own. He was at the opera with Fisher, but Stace's night time advancing movements triggered Kerouac's brain to respond, somewhat skewing his own dream. "Not here, Scott" said Kris almost moaning. However, Commander Brooks was a hell of a lot more hairy than Captain Kerouac's little science twink.

The Captain's eyes shot open and the reality of the matter soon set it. Not my quarters he observed firstly. Not Scott he soon added to his senses as everything started to come into focus and the fog lifted from his mind. "COMMANDER!" shouted Kris in an effort to wake Stace up as Kris made an attempt to roll his way away from the First Officer.

Stace moaned out "Seras" Just as he was shot to full wakefullness by the Captain's Captain voice. He flinched and jerked, realized what the hell was happening, then let out a hasty "Fuck" and bolted from the room, almost tripping over the covers that had been tangled around him. This was bad, this was very very bad.

The Captain watched as Stace freaked out and wrapped some overs around himself before darting out of the room like a bat out of hell. Kris reached over to the end table on his side of the bed where his comm badge sat. He picked it up and fumbled around with it in his hands. =/\= "Captain to Security..." began Kris. He was going to have security snatch Stace before the man got too far, but Kris thought better of it.

Damn. It would be an embarrassing for him to be detained by security thought Kris. "Cancel that. I'm sorry to bother you, everything is fine" said Kris before the comm channel closed. Instead, Kris threw on some clothes and headed out of the room in search for Stace. "Commander, where the hell did you go?" asked Kris.

Stace of course had bolted for the bathroom, and resolved his issue in about 3 seconds, regardless of the circumstances. He was splashing water on his face when he heard Kris. "Bathroom." He heaved out with a long sigh. God, this was the 3rd most embarrassing thing to ever happen to him.

"It was an interesting sensation" commented Kris after finding Stace. "Just not one I care to experience again" he added shaking his head and taking a deep breath. "So...Seras? Care to tell me about it? I mean my leg and thigh felt enough to give me a sense that there's something about Seras."

Stace took a deep breath as well. At least the Captain seemed to be taking it in stride. He wasn't in the brig for sexual assault, there was an upside. "I'm sorry about that. Honestly, that's never happened before." It only then clicked what the Captain had said. His dream, he'd been dreaming obviously, but only a shadow of the actual dream remained in his mind, clearly he'd said Seras though. "I really don't want to talk about it. If it's alright with you, I'm just going to get cleaned up and change, and get out of here with my tail between my legs."

The Captain let out a good chuckle and looked down at the man's lower half and slowly raised his head, making eye contact once again. "That's aint no tail my friend. That's a weapon of mass destruction if I've ever felt one" teased Kris. "You may not want to really talk about it, but you have something on your mind involving a valued member of my crew, and someone I'm coming to regard as a friend. I don't know what you two have or don't have with one another, but in my honest opinion, she'd be lucky to have you...and in more ways than one" added Kris with a smirk.

Stace let out a snort of amusement. The embarrassment was quickly wearing off, especially with Kris not making a huge deal of it, well other than to tease him, which was perfectly fine. He nodded his understanding at what Kris was saying, but didn't say anything. He'd meant it, he really didn't want to talk about it, especially when he didn't understand it and hadn't had time to even process it. "I think I have some eggs if you want breakfast. I've got paperwork to start." It wasn't exactly subtle, or even diplomatic, but hopefully it would do the trick.

Kris smiled. "Eggs...mmm yum. I'll think pass on that for the time being. I'm more of a few cups of coffee and maybe a granola bar breakfast kind of guy" said Kris, somewhat jokingly yet the coffee part was serious. Though it was an improvement over the few sips of liquor he used to start his mornings with. "The paperwork can wait. In fact, tell your Yeoman to send everything my way for the next few days" said Kris.

Stace was about to protest, but realized Kris probably had a reason that had nothing to do with last night's events, if he was just patient enough to get the explanation.

The Captain walked with Stace for a bit and Kris retrieved the PaDD he had been working on before the two had gone to sleep. "Hope you feel like stretching those legs of yours for a bit. I'll make sure Engineering has a shuttle ready by the end of the day" said Kris before handing the PaDD over.

"Yeah, another shuttle." Stace quipped, taking the PaDD. At least he'd have time to read over it before hand.

Kris nodded "Can't risk taking Camelot at this time. We need to be here to watch over Sigma Iotia and Commander Tonkin" said the Captain. Kerouac handed the PaDD over, though the screen was locked. "Your command codes will grant you access. This ones FYEO, Stace."

"Understood." Stace was definitely interested now, and would have to find a private spot to go over what Kris had given him.

The Captain gave the man a small nod and a pat on his shoulder. "We can't send you out there alone, so pick your companion wisely, Commander. Unfortunately, it is slim pickings at the moment."



Cmdr Stratford Brooks
XO

Capt Kristopher N. Kerouac
CO